


A Little Patience

by kickcows



Series: ALP AU [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Explicit Sexual Content, Falling In Love, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Slow Burn, Social Media, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-09
Updated: 2020-01-09
Packaged: 2021-02-25 10:14:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 56,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22154401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kickcows/pseuds/kickcows
Summary: Noctis Caelum is a starving college student, who is obsessed with his favorite Moogletube food vlogger Ignis Scientia. One night he learns that Ignis is going to be in his city, and decides to send him a direct message offering to show him around in a way only a local could.
Relationships: Noctis Lucis Caelum/Ignis Scientia
Series: ALP AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1633825
Comments: 70
Kudos: 122
Collections: The Ignoct Big Bang 2019





	1. Wood-Smoked Fish

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! :) I decided to do the Big Bang challenge, and this is the story I came up with. ^_^ I worked with two amazing artists - [Hooniearts](https://twitter.com/hooniearts) and [Hackwolfin](https://twitter.com/Hackwolfin). I'll post the link to their artwork on the chapter that the artwork is specific to. It was a ton of fun working with both of them! 
> 
> And a special shoutout to my other half who helped brainstorm this fic with me, and stayed by my side every step of the process. :) 
> 
> Please enjoy!

* * *

The music that Noctis was listening to was lowered when a notification came up on his phone. Glancing at the watch he was wearing, he saw that it was eleven in the morning on a Wednesday, so that had to mean the notification could only be one thing. As he walked up the stairs, staying to the right side of the stairwell, he kept his head down as he stayed with a pack of students who were all heading to their next class. He wanted to walk faster, so he could get to his classroom faster, but no one seemed anxious to get to their next lecture. His phone alerted him again, the music all but disappearing with this notification. Deciding that enough was enough, he pushed his way through the body of students, and walked faster up the flight of stairs before he got to the floor he needed to be on, and walked out of the stairwell a little less graceful than normal. 

“Noctis!” He turned his head, and saw that his best friend was waiting for him outside their classroom. “Did you see?? He-” 

“Shh!” Noctis held up his hand, and shook his head. Pulling his earbuds out, he looked at the man who had been his best friend since high school - Prompto Argentum, a curious blond who wore his hair in an undercut, with long pieces of hair acting as bangs on the right side of his face. Violet eyes were lined with black eyeliner, and he wore two large leather cuffs around his wrists that had been present for as long as Noctis had known him. His own raven colored hair was pretty much the same as it had been in high school - long bangs and then short in the back. Why change when it seemed to work well already - that was his motto. “I was busy trying not to get murdered in the stairwell.” He pulled his phone out, but still hadn’t looked at the notification. 

“Well, you can look when we sit at our desks. Probably can’t watch all of it, but what else is new?” 

“The fact that you’ve confirmed what it is by saying that makes me less than pleased.” Noctis mumbled, hating that his best friend couldn’t wait for him. “You know how that makes me feel.” 

“I’m sorry!” Prompto shook his head, as they walked into the classroom together. Heading to the back, they dropped their bags down on the top of their desks, and sat down. “I know you looooove him, but come on! You made me ring that stuipd bell so I’d be alerted at the same time as you. Do you want me to unsubscribe?” 

“No!” He shook his head, as he held his phone in front of him. “Just tell me - is it another food tour, or is he cooking today?” 

“You really want me to tell you?” 

Noctis groaned, and shook his head. “No, not really.” 

“Just look, you dork. You’ve got ten minutes before class starts.” 

Looking at his phone, he saw a notification from Moogletube informing him that ‘A New Recipe!’ had posted a new video. Hating that he wasn’t going to be one of the first views on the video, he double tapped the notification to unlock his phone and bring up the app. Grabbing his earbuds, he put them back in his ear and showed his phone to Prompto, but it looked like he was already watching something else on his own phone. Rolling his eyes, he waited for the video to load, and then felt his stomach roll as the man he’d become obsessed with a half a year ago came up on his screen. 

“Hello, darlings!” The host of ‘A New Recipe!’ came up on the screen - Ignis Scientia, or as Noctis liked to call him, Mr. I Want to Get in Your Pants. He wore black framed glasses, and dressed nicer than anyone Noctis had ever met. Today’s video had him wearing a white button up shirt that was rolled up to his forearms, a black vest with a green paisley tie around his throat, and Noctis was almost certain that if the camera panned down he would see black slacks on his legs. Trying to not think about the lower half of his body, he returned his attention to the video. “Greetings from….” The camera was flipped to show some sort of village near some water, then returned back to the vlogger. “Altissia! I’m here with a group of friends, and I’m going to take you first on a tour of the city, and then we’ll head back to where I’m staying for the next few days to recreate something we find on our tour today - a new recipe! Join me, won’t you?” 

The music began to play, as the card for Ignis’ show came up on the screen. Noctis paused the video, and saw that there was already over six thousand views on the video. He knew Ignis was popular, but that was mildly ridiculous. Reaching over, he tapped Prompto on the shoulder. “He’s not in Altissia right now.” 

“Well, duh. He has to edit these videos, right? So it makes sense that they’re not posted right away. And what the heck, are you a stalker, or what?” 

He blushed, and looked down at his phone. “You know I follow him everywhere.” 

“Right. Because he posts different things. Why don’t you message him?” 

It was the same question Prompto asked every time a new video showed up on Moogletube. “No, I’m good. I can admire from afar, can’t I? And I leave comments on his videos.” He brought up the box to leave a comment, and began typing. _Altissia is so pretty this time of year! Thank you for sharing it with us!_ His comment popped up under his Moogletube handle ‘Night Sky Prince.’ 

“Yeah, but he doesn’t know it’s _you_. You’re just some person on the internet.” 

“Exactly.” Noctis looked up, and saw that their professor was getting ready to start their lecture. “Whatever, don’t give me shit about it.” 

“Please. You can’t say that to me. You set yourself up for this, and I will gladly take shots at you.” 

Rolling his eyes, he put his phone onto silent and grabbed his notebook. “You’re a jackass.” As an afterthought, he looked over at him. “You want to come to my apartment after class tomorrow, so I can try and make his new recipe?” 

“How can I say no to that?” 

Before their teacher could single either of them out, they stopped talking and began to pay attention as their lecture got underway. He was a junior at Insomnia University - IU for short - and was studying to be a political science major. His father was insistent on that being his major, and at the encouragement of Prompto he had decided to roll with it. It was a difficult major - most of his time was spent studying and prepping presentations, but he was having fun. Prompto, on the other hand, was studying to be English Literature major, as he was hoping to head back to their high school and teach kids about books they normally might not read if it wasn’t for their curriculum. This was their only class together this semester, and it was a day that Noctis always looked forward to - having different majors meant they spent most of their time on opposite ends of the campus.

The lecture ended, and after getting his things back in order, he stayed in his seat and pulled his phone back out. “Noct - you’re not serious, are you? Can’t you watch it as you walk to your next class?” 

“You know my next class isn’t for an hour, and there’s no class in this room after ours. So what’s wrong with me wanting to take a little extra time to watch this here?” He held up his phone, showing the paused video. He put his earbuds back in his ears, and leaned back in his chair. “You can go if you want.” 

“Fine. But we’re hanging out tomorrow, right? I’ll pick up the ingredients for this recipe he’s making, so we can try it on our own?” 

“You mean, so we can fail? Yeah, sure.” Noctis nodded his head. “Now, if you don’t mind?” 

“Sheesh. I’m going!” 

He hit the button to unpause the video, and as he did, he saw a notification pop up. “ _A New Recipe has liked your comment_.” The instant euphoria he felt at knowing that Ignis had read his comment and liked what he said was the reason why he left comments in the first place. He tended to interact more on Moogletube than on Pictogram, or on Warkker, and definitely only observed on Glaivesbook. Sometimes he would reply to a post on Warkker, but he would never get a reply over there - usually because Ignis had over ten thousand followers over there, so of course he wouldn’t stand out. But here on Moogletube, he knew he was usually guaranteed a like from him if he posted his comment as close to posting time as he could. 

Returning to the video, he saw Ignis with a group of people, all sitting on a gondola as they were shown the sites of Altissia. He could remember traveling there with his dad when he was much younger, and remembered the city being beautiful. But seeing it through the lens of Ignis’ camera, it looked more romantic than anything he remembered. It could be that’s what his eyes wanted to see, as he began to daydream about sitting in a gondola like that with the host. He was so lost in his fantasy that it took him a few moments to realize he’d daydreamed for most of the tour, as Ignis was now standing in a kitchen getting ready to cook. 

“Be sure to have all of your utensils out on your workstation, as it’s easier to pick up and use them as you go. You don’t want to be hunting as you work, do you, darlings? I didn’t think so.” Ignis winked at the camera, sending Noctis’ heart into overdrive. It never failed to get his heart rate going whenever Ignis flirted with his audience. “Now, today we’re going to be recreating the meal I had at Maagho’s earlier in the day. Didn’t it look scrumptious? I knew as soon as I tasted it, that I was going to have to recreate it for you all.” 

Noctis watched him make wood-smoked fish, which looked very easy - but everything Ignis did always made it look easy. And he knew from experience that that was not always the case. But he grabbed his notebook and wrote down the ingredients he and Prompto would need to recreate this dish tomorrow night, skipping out on the side salad that he decided to make. Noctis grimaced every time Ignis prepared vegetables to consume. Why anyone would have such a love for those things, he couldn’t understand. He _hated_ vegetables with a fiery passion. 

“And there you have it! Simple ingredients that won’t break your budget. All it takes is a little patience, a little bit of elbow grease, and voila! A delicious meal for you! Don’t forget to click that little bell to be notified when I post a new video - I upload new recipes every Wednesday and the occasional outtakes other days of the week. If you want to visit any of the places I went to today in Altissia, I’ll post the links below.” Noctis stared at Ignis, feeling like the man was speaking directly to him. “You can follow me on Pictogram - I like to post videos there from time to time on what I’m working on. I’m also on Warkker. Links are all down below. Ta for now, darlings!” 

Swiping the video closed, Noctis gathered his things up and headed out of the empty classroom. As he walked to his next class, he decided to head over to Warkker and see if Ignis had posted anything new. The last time he’d updated Warkker had been a few days ago. But he had posted the night before to Pictogram, and had shown where he was eating with some friends. Noctis had practically drooled at the food that was being filmed, and couldn’t wait to see if that was what Ignis would recreate for his next video. 

Since he’d begun to follow him on all social media platforms, Noctis’ crush had grown exponentially for this man. But there were two things he had no idea about him - one, was he gay or bisexual? Not that he ever stood a chance at being with him. It was fun to dream, but not necessarily something Noctis ever expected to happen. Two - he had no idea where he called home. Ignis could be living in Insomnia, and he would never know. Okay, that wasn’t true - with the videos he posts on Pictogram, he would have known if he lived in Insomnia, but he’s never seen him enjoy food at any location here. 

He saw there was a new story from Ignis, and decided to see where he was at in the world right now. It looked like wherever he was, it was night time. The sun was setting, and he saw Ignis hold up a martini glass. “Nothing quite beats a delicious rye martini. Hope you all are having a wonderful evening!” It was tradition for Ignis to post something like this after he uploaded a video to Moogletube, and this one definitely didn’t disappoint. 

The itch to take a screenshot of what Ignis had been wearing was there, but he refused to do it. He knew that Ignis would see it, and didn’t want to seem like a creeper. Instead, he ingrained the image into his mind - not that that was difficult to do because Ignis was already present in his head more than a Moogletube star should be. Shaking off those thoughts, Noctis put his phone back into his pocket, and paid attention to where he was going, rather than go blindly. He’d text Prompto later about the ingredients that they would need for tomorrow’s attempt. And depending on how it went, they’d decide if they would post the tragedy to his own channel - ‘A Recipe for A Disaster’. 

It had started off as a joke - he wasn’t looking for any sort of monetary gain from the videos that he and Prompto made. It was more or less to show that even with step by step instructions, and ‘a little patience’, failure was always present. He had his own small following on both Pictogram and Moogletube, but nowhere _near_ the amount that Ignis had. Which he was okay with - again, he was doing this more or less to show that it’s okay to follow instructions and still mess up. 

But he would worry about that stuff later - he had one more class to suffer through, and then copious amounts of homework that he had to deal with first. 

***

“Alright! I got the barramundi. That’s what he cooked, right?” Prompto said, who had just shown up at Noctis’ apartment. “Or did he not say?” 

Noctis nodded his head, as he got his kitchen organized the way that Ignis had set his up. “Yeah, he said barramundi. I hope it wasn’t too expensive?” 

“It was a little, but that’s okay. We haven’t done this for awhile, have we?” The cloth bag that held their perishable ingredients in it was set down on the counter. “Do you want me to film today’s attempt? Or nah?” 

“Let’s film it, but we don’t have to post it if it turns out terrible.” Noctis had checked Warkker a little earlier, and had seen that Ignis had posted about a new video he was working on, and had thrown up a short clip. He couldn’t tell where he had been, but it definitely wasn’t Altissia. 

Prompto laughed, and grabbed the camera and tripod from the dining room table. “You say that, but we both know that you want to post it because you’re hoping that Ignis will see one of your videos and comment on it.” 

“Shut up.” He threw a bay leaf at Prompto, who was still laughing as he got the camera set up. “So what if I want that? You know how bad I have the hots for him.” 

“What if he’s a complete asshole in real life?” He handed Prompto his cell phone, as his was the better model - but it was still two years old. Being a broke college student, he didn’t have the luxury of being able to afford the newest gadgets like he used to be able to. He wasn’t poor by any means, but his father thought that it would ‘build character’ if he were to be like everyone else that went to college. He couldn’t wait to graduate at the top of his class, so he could return to a comfortable lifestyle of sorts. “What if he kicks puppies?” 

He fake gasped at the comment, before grabbing a white apron to tie around his waist. It was similar to the one that Ignis would wear on his show. Noctis had felt ridiculous wearing it, but the more he wore it while cooking, the more sense it made to have it on because it really did protect his clothes from getting dirty. “He would never kick puppies. Only your uncle does that.” 

“Ha ha ha.” Prompto stuck his tongue out at him, throwing back the bay leaf he’d thrown. “I’ll let that slide, for now, Mr. Jerkface.” 

“I doubt he could be mean. He seems so genuine in his videos - both on Moogletube, and on Pictogram.” Noctis got all the ingredients set out, and looked at Prompto’s phone - which had the video from yesterday up on the screen. 

“Maybe that’s his schtick, though. He’s nice - to a fault, but then when the cameras stop rolling, he’s this total diva.” 

“You think he drinks his coffee with like fifteen different items?” Noctis looked at everything, then wiped his hands off on his apron. “Like, five shots of espresso, five pumps of liquid cane sugar, two packets of Sweet and Lo, and three pumps of peppermint syrup?” 

They both looked at each other and began to laugh. “No, I don’t think he’d be like that at all. Probably drinks his coffee black.” 

The thought of drinking coffee black made them both make a face. “Okay, I think we’re ready. This is going to be bad, isn’t it?” 

“When’s the last time you cooked fish successfully?” 

“Crap. Better open the windows.” 

“Good idea.” 

Once the breeze was blowing into his small studio apartment, Noctis looked at the cameras, and gave a nod of his head. He waited for Prompto to start filming, and then began to speak. “Hello! It’s been some time since you last saw me. Don’t worry - I’m still here, ready to make what one of my favorite vloggers made in his most recent video. Will it turn out the way he says it should? Or will it end up a complete disaster? Guess we’ll find out!” He grinned, and began to work. 

It took a few tries, but he finally got the fish the way that Ignis said it should be done before he got to cooking it. “Now, I know what you’re thinking. But Mr. Prince - why don’t you try making your own recipes? Well, I’ll tell you why.” He looked directly into the camera. “I am awful at cooking. I can’t make the food that others who create them that tell me I can make it like them if I follow step by step instructions. And, my dear friends, you know me - I follow these recipes, and yet…” 

The pan was smoking. Instead of swearing, he grabbed his metal spatula, and tried to save what he could. The fish wound up being burnt to a point where it was still smoking as he transferred it to a plate. “You see? I can’t do it. This is why I’m a disaster in the kitchen. It’s not for your amusement - no, that’s just a perk for you all. I’m the reason why services like Diners-to-Go exist.” 

Noctis dropped the plate on the counter, the counter a horrible mess from his prep work. “I guess this is another failed attempt at trying to make ‘A New Recipe’ recipe. If you like what you saw, click that subscribe button, and select to be notified so you can laugh while I cry through this sorry existence of inedible food. See you guys for my next disaster.” Noctis held up the smoking fish again, and wore a look of fake sadness on his face. 

“Keep it there!” Prompto called out, as he stopped recording on his cell phone. “Let’s take a pic, and post it up on Pictogram!” 

“Why? To further embarrass myself?” Noctis stayed in position, and waited for him to snap a few photos. “Let me see.” 

“Here.” The phone was handed back to him, as he set the charred fish on the counter. “I mean, if Ignis’ recipe had been for charred fish, I think you did really great.” 

“It was smoked fish. Not burnt fish.” He pointed to the second picture. “That’s the one we should use.” 

“Post it up! I can have this edited in a few hours. We gonna do pizza tonight?” 

“And beer, if you want?” 

His best friend shook his head. “Got whiskey?” 

“Of course I do.” 

While waiting for their pizza to be delivered, Noctis posted the picture and said that they would be posting a new video soon. He was surprised by how many likes he got, but then remembered he used the same hashtag that Ignis used for his own show. Granted, he buried it among other tags first, but it seemed it still came up for people following the tag. He tried not to watch Prompto edit his video, because hearing his own voice always made him cringe. But luckily, Prompto was wearing headphones, so he wasn’t being subjected to his own personal torture. 

One glass of whiskey turned into two, which then began a third, and by the time their pizza had shown up, Noctis was definitely feeling no pain. “Okay, it’s finished!” Prompto announced, as he reached for another slice of pizza. “You want to watch it before I upload?” 

“If I say no?” 

“I’m still going to show it to you.” 

“Then I guess I have to say no.” 

“You know you want to see it. It’s not that bad! I mean, besides you failing and all.” 

Noctis groaned, and nodded his head. He was about to say yes, when he felt his phone vibrate. Checking to see what the alert was, he saw that it was an update from Ignis on Warkker. “ _Does anyone know of a good place to eat in Insomnia? I’ll be there this coming weekend_.” Noctis felt his stomach drop, and his mouth go dry. His jaw dropped as he shook his head back and forth, not believing what he’d just read. 

“What the heck is wrong with you?” Prompto asked, as he continued to stare at his phone, gobsmacked. “Did someone die??” 

“I think I might.” He held his phone out for Prompto to see. 

“Holy shit, dude! Ignis is going to be here?!” 

“I guess so.” 

He reread the post on Warkker, still trying to believe what he was seeing. “Gods, what if we bumped into him? That would be crazy.” 

“What do you mean, what if? Dude, you gotta send him a message! You know all of the good places to eat!” 

Noctis shook his head. “No way. Sure, I do know a lot of good places to eat, but if I invite him, does that mean I have to pay? You know I can’t afford that.” 

“I can throw money at you. Just message him!” Prompto pulled his wallet out, and handed him two twenties. “Here. That’s all I got for now. But I can get more out tomorrow. Shit, did he say when he was going to be here this weekend? For how long?” 

“No and I don’t know.” He mindlessly ate more pizza, as he struggled to maintain his composure. “Why would he be coming here?” 

“Duh. It’s only like, the biggest city. Why _wouldn’t_ he come here?” 

“Because it’s Insomnia.” 

“You really are the worst, Noct. You do realize that, right?” 

He wadded up his napkin, and threw it at him. “Shut up. Are you going to post that video you’ve been editing?” 

“I will if you send him a direct message.” 

“Nope.” 

“Then I’m not posting it.” 

Maybe it was the whiskey, or maybe he knew that Prompto was right. There was no way anyone else but him could make a few suggestions about good places to eat here in Insomnia. Not your normal chain restaurants either, but ones that people knew by reputation to be good. Insomnia had a _lot_ of different areas, and a lot of really good food options. Prompto throwing money at him to help him take out Ignis also helped alleviate some of the worry he was beginning to have about sending him a message. 

“Fine. What the hell am I going to lose? It’s not like he’s up right now. I bet that was put on a timer, and he’s actually asleep, or maybe it’s morning where he is, and he can’t talk.” Noctis pulled up Warkker, and clicked on Ignis’ picture. 

“You won’t know until you send him something.” Prompto put his laptop on his lap, and kept his finger hovering over the button to upload the video. “You show me when you’ve sent him a message, and I’ll upload your disaster video.” 

He selected the envelope on Ignis’ profile, and waited for the message to appear on his screen. Noctis hesitated for a few minutes, then began to type. “ _Hi, Ignis. Long time follower of yours! I live in Insomnia, and would love to take you to one of my favorite restaurants. My treat_.” He read what he was typing out loud to Prompto. “That’s lame, isn’t it?” 

“It really is.” He watched his best friend tap his finger on his chin. “How about you say ‘Hey, Ignis. I love your show! It’s so cool you’re going to be in Insomnia. I was born there, and have lived there all my life. There’s a bunch of cool places that I’d love to show you. Or, if you don’t like to hang out with your fans, that’s cool. I can give you a list, and maybe I’ll see it on your channel!’ Or something like that.” 

Noctis typed the last bit. “I think that’s way better than what I came up with. And it’s an easy out for him to say no to meeting me, but yes to wanting to know good places to eat.” 

“He won’t, though.”

“You don’t know that.” Noctis stared at the message. “This is too stupid. I can’t.” 

“Just hit send!” 

“Fine!” He pushed the button, and then dropped his phone on the couch. “Whiskey!” 

“Yes, you deserve a drink for being so brave.” Prompto pushed the button to upload the video, and set his laptop on the coffee table. “What are you going to do when he replies back to you?” 

Picking up his glass, he held it out so Prompto could pour him some more liquor. “He won’t. So I don’t have to worry about it.” 

“How much do you want to bet he’s going to say something to you?” 

“Can we please watch a movie, so I can stop thinking about this? I can’t believe I sent him a freaking direct message.” He took a sip of his liquor. “I _literally_ slid into his dm. Fuck, I want to die.” He took another long sip, hoping that it would take away the memory of his most ridiculous act. 

The television remote was picked up, and soon the sound of a game show was coming through the speakers before the picture generated on the screen. “I’m telling you you’re wrong.” 

“Fine, whatever.” Noctis refused to pick up his phone, leaving it on the cushion of the couch as he grabbed another slice of pizza. “Find something fun to watch before you gotta bail.” 

“Ugh, you’re so bossy when you’re drunk.” 

“This is your fault!” 

“You’ll be thanking me one day. I know it.” Prompto threw a pillow at him, the two of them laughing. 

After watching a movie, then a half of another, Noctis watched his best friend drag himself out of his apartment. He only lived a few blocks away, and he had left his apartment in a worse state before. Picking up his phone, he walked into his bedroom and was about to put it on its charger when he saw that he had an unread message. Trying not to panic, he laid down on his bed, and opened the alert. And then promptly dropped his phone when he saw what the alert was. 

Noctis shook his head from side to side, as he picked up his phone to look at the message again. It was a direct message on Warkker, and it had come through a half hour ago. _A half hour!! Shit!_ Noctis played it cool, figuring it might be another person that wanted to interact with him, and it wasn’t going to be Ignis replying back to his own direct message. He was so convinced that that was the case, that as soon as he opened the message and saw that he was very, very wrong, all he could do was stare blankly at the screen. 

“ _Do you really? How marvelous. Yes, I would love to meet up with you! Would that be alright? I don’t have to film, if that would make it easier for you? I fly in late Friday evening, so if there is a night scene that you think I shouldn’t miss, please let me know? Would you be available to meet for breakfast on Saturday morning? I hope I won’t be too jetlagged. I’m flying from Tenebrae_.” 

He looked at the message over and over, and tried to decide if he was being pranked, or if this was legitimate. There was only one way to find out. “ _How late on Friday? There’s this night market that has some killer cuisine, but it’s only open until 1am. A lot of the locals go there. Right up your alley_.” 

His mouth dropped open when he saw the three dots appear, his hands began to shake as he realized he was having a conversation with Ignis - right at this very moment. “ _I arrive at nine, so after customs and checking in to my hotel, I could be ready to head out around half past ten? Would that work for you? A night market sounds amazing_.” 

“ _How can you be so trusting? What if I was a bad person? What if this is a set up to kidnap you?_ ” He typed, hoping that Ignis was laughing as he read what he typed. He felt ridiculous for saying it, but damn, how could he be so trusting? 

More dots appeared on his screen. “ _You’re Night Sky Prince from Moogletube, aren’t you? With your handle, I can’t imagine it would be anyone else. By the way, nice new video. ;) The barramundi looked absolutely charred_.” 

“Oh my Gods.” Noctis could not process that last message from Ignis. He knew who he was? He watched his awful videos? “Oh my Gods.” He looked at his Warkker handle - PrNightSkky - and wanted to slam his head against the wall. “ _I hope I didn’t offend you by my video. You know I really like watching your stuff. I do it for fun_.” 

“ _I think it’s marvelous. It makes me smile when I see that I’ve inspired others to create what I show you. So, to answer your earlier question - I know you’re not going to kidnap me. You might poison me with your food, so it’s a good thing we’ll be going out to a night market, hmm?_ ” 

He started to laugh. It was totally absurd, and the only response he could think of. “ _Yes. Because the world would be a darker place if I were to have murdered the man who makes cooking look so flawless. I like being alive, so don’t worry - I won’t cook. Where should I meet you?_ ” 

“ _How about you tell me where the market is, and I’ll come find you. Give me a half hour past our meeting time, in case I get stuck at customs longer than I’d like. Deal?_ ” 

“ _Deal_.” He typed in the address for the night market. “ _Have a safe trip over here. I look forward to showing you my city tomorrow night!_ ” 

“ _Ta for now, darling. ;) See you tomorrow_.” 

Noctis dropped his phone onto its charger, and stared up at his ceiling. He refused to believe that that had just happened. He’d wake up tomorrow morning, covered in his own drool, and this will have been some drunken dream. Laughing one more time, he shook his head and rolled over. He’d deal with his actual reality tomorrow. Right now, he needed to sleep if he was going to make it to his class on time in the morning. 


	2. Prairie Style Skewers

* * *

The night market was crowded - not that it surprised Noctis. It was always crowded, and the later it got, the more crowded it became with people out for the evening heading there to extend their evening out on the town. The weather was also very pleasant, which usually brought more people out. Noctis looked down at his watch, and saw that it was fifteen past ten. Ignis had said that was when he would be leaving his hotel, so he figured he would have enough time to scope out the stalls, and see what was being offered tonight in the hopes that he would find something that Ignis would like.   
  
He still could not grasp that he was about to meet someone he considered a celebrity, although he’s not sure how many people would recognize Ignis. He had told Prompto about it this past afternoon, and even he had trouble believing it. 

“ _No way. Let me see! Screenshot your message!” Prompto yelled at him through the phone. “You’re making it up!”_

_ Doing what he had asked, Noctis had sent him a screenshot of their last messages to each other, and then what followed was a screen full of shocked face emojis - there had to be at least twenty of them. “See? I told you. I’m meeting him tonight at the night market. Want to go?”  _

_ “No way!” Noctis had hoped he would say no, but figured asking him would be the right thing to do. “I don’t want to encroach on your territory! Holy crap! You’re going to meet  _ the _ Ignis Scientia! Oh, man! What if he calls you darling in person?”  _

_ “I will probably die. So, thanks for putting that thought into my head. Gods, this is so stupid. I shouldn’t have sent that message.”  _

_ “Well, it’s a good thing you did. Now, if I don’t hear from you all weekend, I’m going to assume you are living up the life with Ignis.”  _

_ Shaking his head, he kept his phone against his ear. “Don’t worry - I’m sure it’s going to be a quick visit to the night market tonight, and then I’ll just have to suffer as I watch his new videos because I’ll know what he’s really like in person.”  _

_ “Yeah, okay. Have fun tonight. Can’t wait to hear all about it.”  _

_“You’ll be the first to know.” He ended the call_.

Navigating his way around, he went to the center of the market, having told Ignis that there was a statue there that they could meet at. It would be easier to meet there than an entrance, as there were about eight different ways that a person could enter the night market. This way there was no confusion, at least that’s what Noctis hoped would be the case. With the amount of people wandering around, and the leftover heat from the day, Noctis hasn’t bothered to bring a jacket. He had changed his clothes multiple times, trying to find the right outfit that looked nice, but didn’t look like he was trying too hard. He’d decided on a pair of black jeans, and a black shirt that had a pattern of skulls that clustered together around the hem of his neck, and then tapered off until it was just a few skulls that ended near his belly button. Hopefully Ignis wouldn’t think he was some morbid person, and his fascination of skulls. 

“Night Sky Prince!” He halted, and looked around at who had just shouted his username. Could it be a random person wanting to get his attention? He didn’t think it would be _him_ that would be recognized out here in this market. “Mister Prince!” Looking around, he saw someone waving their hand, and then saw who’s body that hand was attached to. 

_Oh, Gods. This is really happening_. He held up his hand and waved at Ignis, who had kept his hand up in the air as he made his way through the crowd to get over to where he was. Praying that his face didn’t look as flushed as it felt, he approached him with a smile on his lips. “Hey. I didn’t think you’d be here already.” 

“Well, it seems the Gods were smiling down on me, as our flight arrived an hour earlier than scheduled.” Ignis was stunning in person. Noctis couldn’t believe how attractive he was - he had expected some sort of difference between what he has seen on camera, and real life but really - there was none. He looked as immaculate as he always did, dressed in a pair of slacks, a long sleeve shirt that was rolled up to his arms, and a green vest with a black tie. “Forgive me for being so overdressed. I didn’t want to waste any time getting into casual clothes.” Ignis held out his hand to him. “It’s such a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Prince.” 

Noctis stared at his hand, trying to remember how to speak a sentence. “That’s not my last name.” He took his hand, and shook it, the hair on the back of his neck raising up as their palms touched for the first time. 

“Oh? My apologies - I assumed with a name like Night Sky Prince, I for sure that that your last name was Prince.” They continued to move their hands up and down. Noctis was too scared to pull it away, as he stared up at Ignis. He knew he was taller than him, but seeing him face to face like this, it was still a bit of a surprise. “What is your name, then? Since you know mine.” 

“It’s Noctis.” He was glad he didn’t stutter on his own name. “Noctis Caelum.” 

“Ah, very clever.” The grin on Ignis’ face was causing his heart to practically beat out of his chest. “Night Sky.” 

“It’s dumb.” Noctis blurted out. “My best friend Prompto thought it was a good idea. I’m now regretting that decision.” 

The laughter that came out of Ignis’ mouth brought a bright blush to his cheeks. “It’s not at all dumb. I think it’s a great name - it’s your own, without it being your own.” Ignis pulled his hand away, as he moved to stand next to him. “Would you prefer this to be a filmless night?” 

“Won’t you lose the opportunity to share it with your audience?” Noctis hadn’t really thought about it, and had just assumed that Ignis would be filming. “Or were you planning on coming back here tomorrow night? It runs all weekend - it starts on Friday nights, then Saturday afternoon to evening, then Sunday all day with the stalls closing up around five.” 

Ignis shook his head. “No, I wasn’t planning on coming back here. Unless I find something that I absolutely must have again before I leave.” They stood near the statue, with the option of four different routes to go to. “I could film, but I don’t have to. Or, if you don’t feel like being on camera with me, I could shoot some segments, and then you can stay off camera?” 

“I don’t mind being on camera.” He pushed some of the hair off of his face. “I know things like this are why people go and watch your videos, so please - feel free to shoot whatever you want tonight. It doesn’t bother me.” 

“Really? That’s fantastic, thank you, Noctis.” 

He almost dropped over from the way that Ignis said his name. It sounded better than he had imagined it would, and he had imagined it quite a few times. Not that he would ever admit that to his favorite Moogletube personality. “You’re welcome.” He pointed to the left. “There’s a great skewer stall down that way. How do you feel about meat on a stick?” 

“I can’t say I’ve never met one I didn’t like.” The excitement he saw on Ignis’ face brought a smile to his own. “Mind if I film a little bit first before we head over there?” 

“Not at all.” He stepped away from him, and saw the camera he’d brought with him. “Do you want me to hold that for you? I don’t mind.” 

“It’s alright. I’ve become a pro at shooting these awful videos on my own, but I appreciate the offer.” Ignis flashed him the same smile he’d seen countless times on his videos. “Don’t mind me - I’m going to sound like a fool now for a little bit.” 

Noctis wanted to say that there was no way that could be possible, but as soon as Ignis started talking to the camera, he could see what he meant. The energy level that Ignis produced as he spoke to the camera was astonishing - he thought Ignis had already been pretty upbeat, but to see him work his magic in front of the camera, it was almost like night and day. He almost tripped while not even moving when he heard Ignis mention his name. 

“I’m with Noctis, who goes by the name of Night Sky Prince on Moogletube, here with me this evening.” Ignis looked over at him, and gestured with the hand that was out of the shot for him to join him. Walking over, he popped his head into the shot, and waved his hand. “If you don’t know who Noctis is - I’ll put a link to his channel down below. He likes to make my recipes, and always fails tremendously. What do you guys think? Should he and I work together, so I can show him how easy it really is to make these recipes I share with you?” 

Praying to whatever deity might be listening to him, Noctis tried not to freak out at the question. Him? Work with Ignis? As in, a collaboration?? He would find some way to mess it up. There was no way he could ever agree to that. He stepped out of frame before he could make a fool of himself on camera, as Ignis said a few more things to his audience. Once the filming was finished, Ignis walked over to where he’d retreated to. “What was that about?” He asked, pointing to the camera. 

“What? You inviting me? I thought it would be a nice gesture for you - that way more traffic would go to your channel.” Ignis looked at him with an apologetic look on his face. “If you don’t want that in the final video, let me know and I’ll be sure to remove it before publishing it. I’m sorry - I should have asked you that before filming.” 

He shook his head. “No, that isn’t what I meant. I meant, you asking if we should do a collab together? Did you mean that? Or are you going to leave it up to your fans to decide?” He knew for a fact that Ignis had yet to do a collaboration like that, as he’d figured that maybe he’d see Ignis on another vlogger’s channel. 

“It was a spur of the moment thought. Was it a bad one?” 

“Not really? But like, you don’t have time to do that this weekend, do you?” Noctis asked. 

“You’re right, I don’t. But that doesn’t mean I won’t be back to Insomnia in the future.” They both looked at the lane that Noctis had pointed to earlier. “Want to show me where these skewers are that you’re so fond of?” 

“Sure, Ignis.” Noctis began to walk forward, and felt Ignis fall into step with him. “What brings you out to Insomnia this weekend?” 

“A friend of mine is getting married tomorrow. Well, his sister, so I’ve been invited to their wedding.” He began to ramble a little. “Honestly, she’s too young to be getting married but I guess the two of them have been together for a very long time.” 

The people around them didn’t bother to budge that much as they made their way down the aisle. “I’m sure she’s going to be happy you’re here to support her decision. Sounds like you are close?” 

“She’s practically my own little sister.” Ignis chuckled, as Noctis looked up at him. “It’s strange to see others around you growing up faster than yourself.” 

“Just because you’re not married doesn’t mean you’re not a put together adult.” Noctis hated that way of thinking. “I’m in college, and I barely feel like a functioning adult. How old is she?” 

“Eighteen.” 

“Yep. Way too young.” 

“Exactly!” 

They looked at each other and laughed, Noctis feeling like he was floating on air. He didn’t expect it would be this easy to talk to someone he admired so much. “If you’re going to a wedding tomorrow for such a good friend, why the heck are you here with me right now?” 

“Because they did the rehearsal dinner earlier, and I had to get a later flight out due to work.” Ignis pulled his phone out of his pocket, and began to shoot video on the cell phone. Noctis knew that he was probably filming to put it on a story, and couldn’t help but be a tiny bit excited that he was going to know that he was there with him when it showed up on his feed. Once he was done filming, Ignis turned to look at him. “Besides, I was hoping someone would respond to my update. And you were the first one.” 

“If I was the first one, does that mean you had others too?” He hadn’t bothered to look at the update after sending him the direct message, a little afraid of what he was going to find in the comments. “Are you going to meet up with others on Sunday?” 

“The only commitment I made was tonight, and that’s with you.” They arrived at the stall, but there was a line. “Well, this place must be good if there’s this long of a line. Other stalls didn’t have anywhere near this many people waiting.” 

Noctis bobbed his head up and down. “I told you - they have the best skewers. They have chicken, and beef, and lamb, and they have a vegetarian one but ew, gross.” 

“You’re not a fan of vegetables?” Ignis pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose, while Noctis silently died at the gesture. Again, it’s something he’s seen so many times in his videos, but seeing it in person was a totally different experience. “Ah, is that why you’ve never done one of my vegetable offerings for your channel?” 

Butterflies appeared out of nowhere in his stomach, as he heard Ignis ask about his channel. “I’m sorry. It’s so weird that I do that, isn’t it? I’m not some crazy fan, I swear.” 

“I never said you were.” The calm look on his face made the fluttering more pronounced. “Are you nervous right now?” 

“Is it that obvious?” He reached up, and scratched the back of his neck. “I’m trying not to be.” 

“Is it because you think I’m famous? Because I’m not - I’m a person, much like yourself.” Ignis teased, but it wasn’t in a condescending way. If Noctis really listened to the way he’d spoken, he might have thought it was almost flirtatious in nature, but there was no way that could have been. “My channel may have a lot of subscribers, and I may have a lot of followers on other social media platforms, but it’s an act. It’s not me.” 

“It’s not?” Noctis was surprised by that information. “You seem exactly how you are in your videos right now. I don’t think you can call it an act when it’s ingrained in you.” 

They moved forward in the line, the smell of meat now permeating the air around them. “I suppose a lot of it is my personality, but I also behave differently from when I’m on versus when I’m not.” 

“Like when you did your introduction on your camera.” He pointed to Ignis’ camera. “Fine, then. Tell me something that no other followers of yours would know about you.” 

“I have a fear of flying. Which is why it’s taken me so long to come and visit this city.” Ignis admitted, as he looked at Noctis. “It didn’t help that I had no choice, because if I missed this wedding, my videos would probably stop because I would be dead.” 

Noctis laughed at that comment, and shook his head. “I doubt they’d kill you.” Ignis began to film with his camera again as they got closer to the front of the line. Preparing himself mentally for the possibility of being on camera, he was ready when he felt the light shine on him as they became next in line. “Two meat, two chicken, two lamb, and two veggies.” He pulled some gil out of his pocket, and handed it to the stall owner. “Can’t beat the price. One gil per skewer.” 

“That is phenomenal.” Ignis took a meat skewer from him, as they walked away from the crowd. “And we eat it as is? No sauce, nothing?” 

“The flavor of the meat speaks for itself. It doesn’t need to be masked by any sort of condiment.” Noctis brought his skewer up. “Cheers.” 

“And to you.” They tapped their meat skewers against one another, and proceeded to take a bite at the same time. Noctis kept his eyes on Ignis’ reaction, and couldn’t help but smile when he saw joy appear on his face. “Oh, wow! This is good!” Ignis took another bite. “We might have to go back and ask for all of them.” 

“She might get angry at you if you try and do that.” He laughed as he took another bite of his skewer. He watched Ignis eat each kind, and had the same reaction for each one. As soon as he stopped filming, Noctis took the empty skewers from him. “Will you try and recreate this recipe?” 

“Unless you show me something else that knocks my socks off like those did, I would say that is a very safe bet.” Ignis nodded, as they began to walk down the aisle. “Where to next?” 

“There’s a stall that sells really good noodles a few aisles over.” Noctis pointed to the right. “Want to go and see what that line looks like?” 

“I think that’s a great idea.” 

The later it becomes, the more crowded the night market gets. They hit the noodles stall, and then take a walk over to the south side where they share a plate of tacos. “This night market has everything for anyone.” The camera is pointed towards him, as he holds up his tacos. “And we’ve only spent fifteen dollars. But remember to bring cash, as none of these shops take card.” 

“You heard it here, folks! I hope you liked this tour of a popular night market here in Insomnia. Stay tuned for my attempt at making those skewers you saw me devour like a mad man earlier.” The camera light was turned off, then the camera itself was lowered. “Noctis, this has been a delight. I’m really happy that I came out and met you tonight.” 

His heart began to thud hard in his chest, as he tried not to be embarrassed by Ignis’ kind words. “I’m glad that my suggestion didn’t fail epically.” 

“It did not.” They began to walk away from the market, heading towards the street which was filled with cars. “Your city is true to its name, isn’t it?” Ignis remarked. 

“Yep.” He agreed, knowing full well that the city really never went to bed. “Ignis, I’m really glad I was able to meet you. I figured it would never happen, since I knew you’d never visited over here before. Now I know why.” 

“The pleasure was really all mine.” 

Noctis smiled, then turned towards the left. “My car is that way. Do you need a ride back to your hotel? Or were you going to use a taxi?” 

“I was going to hail a taxi. My hotel is near the waterfront, which I’m sure it very much out of your way.” 

He wasn’t wrong, but Noctis couldn’t miss the opportunity to spend a little more time with Ignis. “I wouldn’t mind driving you back. You’re right, though. It’s very much out of the way for me.”

“You would have my gratitude.” The killer smile on Ignis’ face made him slightly weak in the knees. 

“Then I guess we’d better get going, since it sounds like you’ve got a long day ahead of you.” 

“I’m not quite sure how I’m still awake right now.” They began to walk towards his car, which was only a block away from the night market. “What time is it here?” 

“It’s…” Noctis looked at his watch, “almost one in the morning.” 

“I wish you hadn’t told me. Then I could move along as if I wasn’t pressed for time. I should have booked an earlier flight, and taken the hit at work.” Ignis sighed. Noctis stopped at his car, and opened the passenger door for him. “Thank you.” 

“I’ll get you back to your hotel in twenty. The taxi would probably take closer to an hour.” 

“Do they stall so they can rack up the fare?” They both buckled their seatbelts before Noctis turned the car on. “Or, is it because they would take the most direct route, which is probably filled with the most traffic?” 

“You got it.” Noctis turned down a street, and began to drive parallel to the main road. “It helps to have a local’s knowledge on navigating this city.” 

“Again, you are my savior.” 

He knew he was blushing, and hoped that Ignis was not looking at him. “It’s really nothing. I don’t mind. Like I said, I’m really happy that I get to spend time with the person that brings me so much joy to my otherwise boring ass life.” 

“I highly doubt your life is boring. Since you asked me earlier, now it’s your turn. What’s something that no one really knows about you.” 

They came to a stoplight. _I have a giant crush on you, but I don’t really know you_. But then again, Prompto knew that, so it wasn’t something that was a secret. “I love to take bubble baths. But I don’t have a tub at my apartment, so the only time I get to take one is if I decide to subject myself to spending time with my father at his place.” 

“Oh, the horrors.” Ignis teased him. Again, if Noctis had been listening, he might have called it flirting but there was no way it could be. “Having to spend time with your father. He must be an awful person.” 

The light changed to green. Noctis took his foot off the brake and began to drive again. “It can be very exhausting. You’ll have your own dose of familial things tomorrow at your wedding, I’m sure.” 

“True.” 

Noctis reached over and turned the radio up a tiny bit, not wanting Ignis to feel like he had the continue the conversation with him. As they got closer to the hotel, Noctis began to wonder if he should ask what time he’s leaving on Sunday. Would there be a possibility he might get to see him again? 

He pulled up to the hotel, and drove up to the drop off area. “Here you go, Ignis. I had a lot of fun this evening.” 

“As did I, Noctis.” Ignis unbuckled his belt, and opened the car door. “Thank you for showing me the night market. It was definitely one of the highlights of my weekend.” 

“Your weekend is barely beginning.” Noctis commented, as Ignis shut the door. He rolled down the window, so they could keep speaking to one another. “Have fun at your wedding.” 

“I’ll try.” A wink threw Noctis’ head into a spin. “Get home safely. Good night, Night Sky Prince.” Ignis waved, and then headed towards the doors leading to the hotel. 

It took Noctis a good five minutes before he remembered he needed to put his car back into drive and leave before the hotel security guard came over to ask him what he was planning on doing. He headed back to his apartment, and as he walked into his living room, he felt his phone vibrate. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he saw a notification for Warkker. Trying not to read too much into it, he laid down on his dilapidated couch and looked at the notification. 

“ _I fear I may have been somewhat excited this evening, and now I cannot seem to fall asleep. :-/ A side effect of the journey, or a side effect from being in a city named after what I seem to be experiencing right now?_ ” 

He reread the message a few times, trying to process that Ignis had reached out to message him again. Not him. Ignis. Pulling up his keyboard, he began to type. “ _It’s the skewers. I forgot to tell you. The reason they’re so good is that they’re laced with cocaine._ ” 

A laughing with tears emoticon popped up in their chat, which made Noctis laugh. “ _I knew they tasted too good. Oh well, at least I’m not in the wedding tomorrow. Speaking of, will you be free tomorrow evening?_ ” 

“ _I don’t think I have anything going on. But is this going to be me meeting your friends here?_ ” 

“ _Oh, Gods no. My friend hates that I have my show. They think it’s a waste of time. I don’t think they even subscribe to my channel. No, no. I thought it might be fun to go back to the night market. Or, if you have another recommendation? The wedding reception will probably be finished by ten, maybe eleven at the latest_.” 

He dropped his phone onto his chest, as he picked up a pillow to scream into it. Was Ignis asking him to hang out again? There was no way that could be possible. There were other people that had responded to him. “ _Where is the wedding? Is it at the hotel, or near where you’re staying?_ ” 

“ _Why? Are you going to crash the wedding? ;)_ ” 

“ _No, but now that you mention that, maybe I will. You don’t have a date, right? :p_ ” 

“ _Are you offering to be my date?_ ” 

Noctis felt his breath leave his chest. He read the question again, and then again. “ _No, because as much as I love crashing weddings, I don’t_.” 

“ _Pity. It might be fun if you were there_.” He had no idea how to reply to that comment, but luckily he saw the three dots appear again. “ _Yes, the wedding is near my hotel_.” 

Exhaling a deep breath, Noctis felt a little better reading that. “ _Text me when you think things are winding down. It’ll take me about thirty minutes to get to that side of town. There’s a really good sushi place near the water. It’s a hole in the wall. You will probably love it_.” 

“ _From the way you describe it, I already do. Yes, that sounds good. Maybe it would be easier if I gave you my number - my reception has been spotty in the hotel_.” 

That pressure returned to his chest, as he tried to comprehend the last comment Ignis had left. “ _You sure you trust a fan with that sensitive information? ;) I’m kidding - I would never abuse something like that. I like you too much to do something of that nature_.” 

“ _You said it yourself - you’re not a kidnapper. Here’s my number_.” Noctis immediately put it into his phone. “ _And now, I can feel my eyes are getting heavy. Which is good because I need to be alert in about six hours. Gods, why didn’t I take an earlier flight?_ ” 

“ _You should be asking why you decided to go to the night market with me. You probably should have stayed at the hotel and slept_.” 

“ _And miss all that good food? Not bloody likely. Good night, Noctis_.” 

“ _It’s morning. ;) And good night to you, Ignis. Have fun at your wedding tomorrow_.” 

“ _hope you’ll change your mind about crashing it. But if not, I look forward to our aquatic adventure tomorrow night. Aquatic? No, they’re dead. Never mind. Good night_.” 

He laughed, and pulled up the new contact he’d just created for Ignis. “ _Good night. This is Noctis. Sweet dreams_.” He sent it before he could chicken out. 

All that was sent in return was a happy smiley face. Noctis hoisted himself up off of his couch, and dragged his body to his bedroom. He wanted to text Prompto, and tell him everything that had happened, but it was close to two thirty in the morning. His best friend might actually murder him for waking him up at that time of night. Getting undressed, he put his phone on its charger and then crawled under his comforter, getting settled on his bed. 

As he closed his eyes, he thought about what had happened over the last few hours. Replaying everything that he’d done with Ignis, he still couldn’t believe that it actually happened. And it was going to happen again tomorrow - which was crazy. This time, he had to dress up nice, as he was sure that Ignis would be wearing his wedding attire, and would no doubt be looking as handsome as ever. Closing his eyes, he curled up on his side, and heard Ignis’ voice in his head telling him how nice it was to spend time with him. That was his last thought as he drifted off to sleep after a very fun evening. 

  
  



	3. Salmon-in-a-Suit

* * *

“I’m almost positive that Ignis asked you out.” Prompto held Noctis’ phone in his hand, as the two sat across from one another at the Kenny Crow’s diner near Noctis’ apartment. “Because every single time I read it, it’s the only conclusion I can come to.” 

Noctis grabbed his phone out of his hand, and looked down at the text. “But why? Why would he do that? He doesn’t know me. Sure, we talked a bunch last night, but I don’t think that what we talked about was earth shattering that would make me go ‘I need to ask this guy out’. Maybe it’s more of a plea for help. He couldn’t bring his significant other with him across the world to be at this wedding with him.” 

“Do you know he has a significant other? Or are you jumping to conclusions?” With a mouthful of food, Prompto pointed his now empty fork at him. “Because you love to do that. A lot.” 

“That doesn’t matter.” He shook his head, and grabbed his toast to swipe up a bit of the yolk off of his plate. “I cannot go and crash a wedding, when he told me the girl that’s getting married is like his baby sister. Do you know how awkward that would be for me?” 

“Or, it could be a lot of fun. You never know. Especially if they live here? New friends!” Prompto picked up his coffee mug, and took a sip of coffee. “Man, I hate their coffee. Why did I order this again?” 

“Because you need a dose of caffeine like the rest of us.” Glancing down at his phone, he looked at the direct message. “I didn’t tell you the craziest part yet.” 

“What?? What else happened??” 

He exited Warkker, and brought up his text messages. Rather than tell him, he showed him. “This.” 

“Oh my Gods! He gave you his number?! Yeah, dude. He definitely asked you out.” Prompto stared at his phone in disbelief. “How could you not tell me that? That all but confirms he was asking you out. You have to go, Noct.” 

“I’m going to look like a complete dunce. No, I’ll stick to the plan and meet him late tonight for food.” 

“But what if this will help you two get to know each other more?” His best friend leaned over the table, and whispered theatrically, “What if he slow danced with you? Then kissed you??” 

“Shut up.” Noctis dropped back against the booth, and rolled his eyes. “Maybe the next wedding he’s invited to, I’ll crash. I can’t do this, Prom. I _can’t_. I like him too much, even though I don’t really know him.” He dropped his head back against the back of the booth. “I should never have sent him that message. Then I wouldn’t be in this mess.” 

“I wouldn’t really call this a mess. Maybe an inconvenience, but I really don’t see how.” The sound of Prompto masticating as he talked caused him to lift his head and shoot a look at him. “Sorry!” He immediately closed his mouth and chewed. “Do you have a suit clean? What if you showed up for the reception only? Or like, halfway through the reception? Text him and say you got there a lot earlier than you figured you would.” 

That idea sounded viable, but it still wasn’t the best. “I like his food channel. I like watching him cook things. How am I supposed to sit with him at a reception? What are we going to do? Talk about the food that’s being served? No, I’d rather just take him out to eat sushi at Seadevil. That’s the plan.” 

“You’re going to regret not going.” 

“Maybe. But come on, Prompto - what would you do if you were me??” 

“I’d go, and deal with the weird vibe and try and turn it into a positive one.” Prompto shrugged his shoulders. “When are you going to get this opportunity again?” 

“Oh, right. Do you know what he said last night?” 

“Apparently not?? What did he say?” 

He felt bad he kept forgetting to tell his best friend important parts of his conversations with Ignis. “He filmed the night market, right? Which I figured he would do because it’s a pretty cool place. Anyway, he introduced me on his vlog, and my stupid channel. And then asked if we should do a video together.” 

Prompto slammed his hands down on the table. “What?! How could you forget to tell me something like that?? Are you going to film it this weekend?? But he’s staying in a hotel, right?? So, would he go to your shitty apartment?? No offense.” 

“None taken, you dick.” Noctis shook his head. “We didn’t talk about it. I guess the viewers will be the ones to decide? I have no clue. I was too scared to say yes. Ugh, what the hell is happening?” 

“Um, your dreams are coming true?? Wow! That’s so cool!” Their waitress walked over to them and cleared their empty plates, and dropped the check on the table. “So, what are you going to do?” 

“Stick to the plan. I’ll meet him late tonight for a food adventure.” 

“You are such a wuss, you know that?”

“Better to be one, than live with disappointment.” He grabbed the check before Prompto could pick it up. “Let me get this.” 

“No way. You’re paying for him tonight, aren’t you?” 

“I’m not sure.” He hadn’t thought that far ahead. “I guess I could use credit tonight, if it came down to it.” 

“Don’t do that.” Prompto looked at the bill, and threw a cash tip on the table. “We can walk to the ATM and I can get some cash out for you.” 

“I wish you didn’t have to do that. I’m really sorry. I guess I could ask my dad, but then you know I’d just get lectured.” 

“It’s the least I can do for you, Noct. Really. And if you don’t wind up using it, you can give it back to me.” They stood up from the table, and headed out of the diner together. “How much do you think you need? A hundred?” 

Noctis balked at the amount. “That’s way too much.” 

“It’s cool. Better to have too much than not enough.” The two of them walked over to the ATM that was half a block away from the diner. “But, you know - what if this becomes a thing? Like, between the two of you? You’re going to have to tell him you don’t have a lot of money at some point.” 

“He’s here for the weekend. The likelihood of me getting to see him again is going to be close to zero, unless he makes his way back over here. Which, from what I learned last night is very unlikely.” 

“Ooooh? What did you learn?” 

Turning to face the street as Prompto entered his number into the machine, Noctis crossed his arms over his chest. “Nothing. I didn’t learn anything. It doesn’t matter. If it gets to be a thing - which there is no way in Etros it would, then yes - I’ll reveal I’m poor until I get out of college.” 

“Must be nice, knowing that you’ll have money again once you’ve got your degree. Wish I could say the same.” His best friend handed him one hundred and sixty gil. “Here. Don’t say shit. Just take it, okay? If you don’t use it, then you give it back.” 

He threw his arms around Prompto’s neck, and hugged his best friend. “Thank you. Really.” He pocketed the cash. “You gonna head to the library?” 

“You know my routine so well.” They stood at the corner of the street, waiting for the light to turn green. “I’ve got a paper due next week. Are you going to go to the wedding?” 

“No.” 

“What if he texts you again, and asks about it?” 

“Then I’ll politely say no, and I’ll see him later tonight.” The light changed, giving them the chance to walk across the street safely. “Now, go and study. I’ll let you know what happened tomorrow.”

“Sounds good! I think you should go, but you do whatever you want! Have fun!” Prompto waved, then headed off towards where his car was parked. 

Noctis walked back to his apartment, the weather from the day before carrying over to today as well. As he got back upstairs, he felt his phone begin to chirp, alerting him that someone was calling him. Wondering who the hell would be calling him on a Saturday, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and had to lean against the door as he answered the call. “Hello?” 

“Ah, good. This is your number.” Ignis’ voice came through the receiver, Noctis slowly sinking to the floor as he kept his phone against his ear. “I know you sent me a text last night, but wanted to verbally confirm it was you.” 

“It’s me.” He said, still trying to recover from the shock of Ignis calling him. “How’s the wedding stuff going?” 

“It’s a thing, that’s for certain.” Noctis could hear people in the background. “Have you thought about crashing the wedding with me?” 

His ears began to ring, as blood flowed into them, his heart pounding hard in his chest. “I have.” 

“Was I able to persuade you with my charm to join me?” The hopefulness he could hear in Ignis’ voice made him bang his head against the door. “No pressure if you are unable to, though.” 

Bringing his legs up towards his chest, Noctis shook his head. “I’m afraid that I can’t. Not because I don’t want to. But, we’re still on for going to that place I told you about afterwards?” 

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” The sound became muffled, as Noctis was silently judging himself as he’d actually said no to Ignis. “Listen, I’ve got to go. I’ll text you when things are winding down tonight. Enjoy your afternoon!” 

The call ended before he could return the sentiment. Noctis pulled up their text message, and began to type. “ _Have fun at the wedding. See you in a few hours_.” He saw that the message had been delivered, and had been read, which was enough for him. 

Thumping his head against the door, he groaned. “Why did I say no? I’m such an idiot.” He looked up at the ceiling, as he could feel the blood that had been pooling in his cheeks make its way back to other parts of his body. “I should have said yes.” 

But what was done was done, and he couldn’t very well take it back now. Noctis got up off the floor, and headed into his bedroom. His phone buzzed in his hand, and he looked down to see an alert had popped up onto his phone. It was a notification for a new video for ‘A New Recipe’. Deciding that he would drown his sorrows by watching this latest video, Noctis flopped down onto his bed and brought up the Moogletube app on his phone. 

“Hello, darlings! How nice to see all of you again!” Ignis waved at the camera. “Today, I’m afraid I’ve got no sight-seeing for you, but I do have a new recipe that I wanted to share with you all. It’s a cake! And one I got to taste for the first time when I went to visit a small town in Leide.” 

Noctis’ stomach rumbled at the sound of cake. As he watched Ignis get all of his ingredients in order, his mind started to drift back to the night before, and how he’d spent time with the man he was currently watching. He could see that the hit count was already at three thousand views, and it had only been uploaded twenty minutes ago. Groaning, he stopped the video and began to type a comment. “ _That cake looks really good! Making whipped cream from scratch is no joke! Thanks for sharing it with us!_ ” He hit enter, and watched as his comment popped up on the screen. 

Five minutes later, he received two notifications on his phone. One was from Moogletube, and the other was a text. His breathing became labored, as he brought up the notification from Moogletube first. It showed that Ignis had liked his comment. With his finger shaking, he pulled up the text and saw that it was from Ignis. “ _Whipping cream is all in the technique. ;) It’s not that difficult, but then again - you do tend to go heavy handed when recreating my recipes_.” 

“ _Shouldn’t you be enjoying the wedding right now?_ ” He typed, trying not to freak out too much. “ _I figured someone like you wouldn’t bother looking at comments when you probably had it set to publish at this time today_.” 

“ _They’re busy taking pictures right now. I’m not involved in that. Merely a bystander here. Can I help it if when I see a comment from Night Sky Prince, I have to like it? ;)_ ” 

Noctis dropped his phone, and placed his head on his mattress. “What the hell is going on.” He whispered to no one, as he knew now from Prompto’s lectures that Ignis was continuing to flirt with him. “ _I’ll see you tonight. Next time you post something, I’ll wait twenty-four hours before putting a comment up_.”

His phone began to ring with an incoming call from the man he was typing to. “Hello?” He answered, putting the phone up to his ear as he rolled onto his back. 

“You had better not. I love seeing what you’re going to say on my video. Almost as much as I enjoy getting an alert for when you post your disasters.” 

“You don’t subscribe to my channel!” Noctis sat up, crossing his knees into a half-lotus position. “I would know if you did!” 

“Are you so certain about that?” The hint of teasing in his voice brought the blood rushing back to Noctis’ cheeks. “One can have more than one Moogletube account, you know.” 

“Please, I’m begging you - go back to your wedding. I need to finish watching your video.” He was slowly losing his composure the more Ignis spoke to him. 

An enthusiastic laugh came through the receiver. “Brilliant! You comment before you finish? Then how did you know I made my own whipped cream?” 

“The thumbnail. The way you presented the final shot of your cake. There’s no way you were going to use a store bought brand of whipped cream.” 

A sharp gasp had Noctis muting the conversation so that he could openly laugh at the noise. “Good heavens, no. I would never.” 

“Seriously, I’ll see you tonight. Don’t get too liquored up, because you’re going to want to experience this food. Bring your camera.” 

“I won’t. I hardly drink at functions such as these. I’ll see you tonight. Shall I send you pictures from the wedding?” 

Noctis rested his phone against his shoulders. “I don’t know any of them. But sure. I’m sure I’ll see the food on your stories on Pictogram.” 

“You would be right. Alright, go finish my video. I’ll see you tonight.” The way Ignis spoke made his heart beat in triple time. 

“Have fun!” He ended the call, then dropped his phone onto his bed. “I’m living in an alternate timeline right now. None of this is happening. It can’t be.” He looked at his phone, his body still buzzing from the conversation the two of them had just shared. Noctis finished watching Ignis’ video, then exited out of the app. Chalking it up to another bizarre day for him, Noctis put his phone on his nightstand and stood up. He had his own studying to do, and right now he could use a break from his current reality for something more normal. This was all a bit too surreal for him.

At half past eight, his phone buzzed. Picking it up, he saw it was a text from Ignis. “ _Cake has been cut, dances have been danced. I think I can sneak out of here in the next half hour, and I can be ready to go a half hour after that. Is that too early for you?_ ” 

“ _Nope. I’ll be at your hotel at 9:30. Your pictures have been hilarious, by the way_.” Noctis scrolled down and looked at the last picture that Ignis had sent to him. It was of the bride shoving cake into her husband’s face, and both looked as happy as could be. 

“ _I’m glad you’ve enjoyed them. I’ll be waiting for you_.” 

He got up from where he’d been doing his studying, and headed into his bathroom. He had a half hour to get ready, and was going to use every second that he had. Since he figured Ignis would probably still be in his wedding attire, he got dressed in a pair of black slacks with thin pinstripes, a long sleeved black button up shirt that he covered with a black vest with the same thin pinstripes on the front. He grabbed a black tie with horizontal white stripes and tied it around his neck. Pushing a tie tack through the knot to keep it in place, he grabbed his cufflinks and put them on, then took a look at himself in the mirror. It would have to do. 

Grabbing his car keys, he headed down to his car and began to make his way across Insomnia. He got to Ignis’ hotel at five minutes before their appointed time, but it seemed that Ignis was already downstairs waiting for him. And he was dressed in a pair of jeans and a fitted shirt. _Great_. Noctis tried not to be too freaked out as he saw Ignis walk over to the car. 

“Well, you look handsome.” Ignis greeted him, as he got into the car. “Special occasion?” 

“I figured you would still be in your wedding attire, so I didn’t want to feel undressed. But looks like the joke’s on me.” He tried to play it cool, but was unsuccessful. 

“I can go back upstairs and change, if that would make you feel better.” The passenger door began to open. 

Reaching out, Noctis put his hand on Ignis’ arm, and shook his head. “No, please. It’s okay. You were dressed smart last night, and I wasn’t. Now it’s vice versa. It’s okay, Ignis. Really.” 

“Are you sure? Because I can go upstairs and change, but then what I wore to the wedding might smell a little ripe.” Ignis closed the passenger door, and returned to sitting forward. “You might want your hand back if you wish to drive us safely to our destination.” 

He saw that he was still holding on to Ignis’ arm. Pulling it away as if he’d touched a hot sheet pan, Noctis put it on the steering wheel. “Sorry about that. I don’t know what I was thinking.” He put his foot on the brake, and put the car into drive. “Did you save your appetite for some delicious sushi?” 

“I did.” Noctis lowered the volume of his radio, then drove along the waterfront. “The food was decent, but it wasn’t ‘wow, this is amazing’ type of food.” 

“I thought it had looked good.” He had watched Ignis’ Pictogram stories a little earlier, wanting to see what kind of food they were having. “Do you fly out tomorrow?” 

“Tomorrow afternoon. My morning is booked - I’m heading over to the family that hosted the wedding today for a celebratory brunch at their home, then they’ll be taking me to the airport.” 

Trying not to feel a little crushed that this was going to be the last time he saw Ignis, Noctis wore a smile on his face. “That sounds like it’ll be a lot of fun. I hope my city has treated you well.” 

“No complaints, so far.” He glanced over at Ignis, and saw him wink at him. 

Quickly turning his head to look at the road, he saw that they were about five minutes away from Seadevil. He pulled into the semi-empty parking lot, and then turned to look at Ignis. “Now remember - you can’t judge a book by its cover. This place may seem like a dump, but it’s not. It’s amazing food.” 

“I have no doubt.” 

They walked over to the door, which was a broken wood swinging door. Ignis raised his eyebrow up, but Noctis shook his head and pushed it forward. “Hello!” The sushi bar chefs greeted them as they walked into the small shop. 

“Do you have a reservation?” A very petite woman approached them. 

Noctis nodded. “Two for Caelum. Nine forty-five.” 

“Follow me over here, please.” She led them to the two spots right in the middle of the sushi bar, with patrons a chair away from them on either side. Noctis sat down, then waited for Ignis to join him. “Beer? Sake? Both?” 

“Both. One tall beer, one small, and one large saki.” Noctis ordered for them. “Don’t worry - I’ll be fine. If not, we’ll share a cab back to your hotel, and then they’ll take me back to my apartment.” 

Ignis’ eyes seemed to brighten at the comment. “And here I thought you were inviting yourself back to my hotel room.” 

“N-No, I would never dream of doing such a thing.” Their beers were dropped down in front of them, as well as the large saki and two small cups. “I hope you like hot sake. Because it’s the only kind they serve here.” 

“I have no preference.” He watched him pull apart the two cups, and then reached for the carafe. “What should we drink to?” 

“Weddings?” 

A small cup was handed to him, filled to the brim with the warm alcohol. “How about to our future collaborations? Because I think we should do something together.” 

“You know I can’t cook.” Noctis’ hand shook a little, some of the sake spilling over onto his fingers. “What kind of awful collaboration would that be?” 

“An entertaining one.” Ignis tapped his cup against his. “Think about it. For now, we’ll drink to the lameness of weddings.” 

“To the lameness of weddings.” Throwing back the shot, he grimaced as it burned down his throat, then reached for his beer. “They serve this amazing salmon onigiri. I know, it sounds too simple, but trust me. The way they prepare the salmon makes it really good. Oh, wait. You didn’t bring your camera!” 

Noctis was sort of relieved that he hadn’t, because then that meant this place could stay as it was for a little while longer. “Does that bother you? I thought that this meal would be better shared as friends, than as an adventure.” 

“Are we friends?” Noctis hoped that it wasn’t the alcohol that was talking. “Don’t forget - we only met each other last night.” 

“I would consider you a friend, and a colleague of sorts.” Ignis tapped his beer against Noctis’. “Now, you said the salmon onigiri is good? What else should we get? Chef - would you share with us your finest selection?” 

He couldn’t ask Ignis to take that comment back, as the chef engaged with them and nodded his head at Ignis’ request. _If I don’t have enough, I can use my card. No big deal_. Sometimes he hated that he couldn’t hold a job to cover his own finances, and instead had to rely on the money that both his school and his father gave to him at the beginning of each month to stretch it to the end. He would worry about it later - right now, he was going to have fun with his new friend. 

“I don’t think I’ll be eating for the rest of the year.” Noctis leaned back against his chair, putting a hand on his stomach. There were many empty plates surrounding their area. “Why did I think dressing up in a vest was a good idea?” 

“Unbutton it. I don’t mind.” 

His fingers undid the buttons, and as soon as it hung open, he felt instant relief. “Much better.” He burped a little under his breath. “Excuse me.” 

“Save room for dessert?” The woman that had seated them stood between the both of them. “Mochi? Cookie tempura with ice cream?” 

Noctis shook his head. “I’m good. But if my friend wants something, he can have it.” 

“I think we’re fine. Just the check, please.” Ignis requested, as Noctis watched him eat more edamame. “You were right. This place is truly a gem.” 

He smiled, pleased to hear him say that. “Good. I’m really glad you think so.” The chef set their bill down in front of them, and before he could grab it, Ignis picked it up from him. “What are you doing?” 

“I’ll pay for this. I don’t mind.” Noctis wanted to tell him no, but when he saw the amount at the bottom of the bill he kept his mouth shut. “I was the one that told them to give us their best. And they did, so I’m more than happy to pay for it.” 

“You can claim it as a deduction, can’t you?” 

“I can. Especially since I think I might try and recreate that salmon onigiri. It was as good as you said it was going to be.” 

“Thank you for trusting me.” He looked at Ignis, and saw he was staring back at him with a smile on his face. “What?” 

“Nothing.” Ignis shook his head, as he put cash down in the padfolio their check had been brought in. “Are you good to drive? Or should we call a cab?” 

Noctis nodded his head. “I’m good. After all that food? I think I have way more food in my body than liquor. I can drive you back to your hotel.” 

“I’m ready when you are.” 

They left the restaurant after a resounding chorus of goodbyes from the sushi chefs and the waitress that had helped them. Noctis opened the door for Ignis, then closed it for him and walked around to the driver’s side. It took a little over fifteen minutes for them to return to Ignis’ hotel, and when Noctis pulled up to the roundabout, he suddenly felt this wave of remorse. 

“I had a lot of fun spending these last two evenings with you.” Ignis said, as they sat in the car. “Would you mind if I were to give you a hug goodbye?” 

Blinking, Noctis turned towards him. “Why would I mind? I wouldn’t say no to that. Can we do it outside of the car?” 

“Yes, I would prefer that.” 

He made sure the car was in park before turning it off, and pulled the keys out of the ignition. He got out of the car, then opened Ignis’ door for him. He stared up at him, still surprised by the height difference between the two of them. He’s so used to having to glance down when speaking to Prompto that this is a welcomed change. “Thanks again for agreeing to meet with me. You could have been a total tool and blown me off, but you were really nice. I’m really happy that I got to meet you in person.” 

“As am I.” 

Ignis held his arms up, and Noctis stepped forward to be closer to him. He brought his own arms up and put one arm over Ignis’ shoulder, while he tucked the other one under his arm. Their chests pressed close together, so close that Noctis could smell the hint of cologne still clinging to Ignis’ neck. He gave a really good hug that it almost felt bad to let go. No, it did feel bad because he really didn’t want to pull away from him, but he knew that if he didn’t he might get reprimanded for where his car was parked. 

“Well, I guess I’ll see you when you post your next video.” Noctis took another step back. “Thanks for buying dinner tonight, Ignis. That was super nice of you.” 

“It was my pleasure.” He saw him hesitate, and then felt his arms back around him for another quick hug. “I hope that our paths will cross again soon, Noctis.” The words were whispered into his ear. “Take care.” The hug stopped, and before he could come to his senses, he saw Ignis was walking back into the hotel. 

Leaning against his car, he tried not to be upset, but it was very difficult. “Hey buddy - you need to move your car.” One of the hotel staff said to him. 

“I know. Sorry.” Wiping his eyes, he walked around his car and got back into the driver’s seat. 

Noctis turned on his car, then sat with it idling as he collected himself a little more, then began to drive away. It hurt to leave, as he had really liked spending time with Ignis, more so than he thought he would. When he got back to his apartment, he took the tie tack out, and began to loosen his tie. He felt his phone begin to vibrate in his pocket, but lacked the energy to check the message. It was probably Ignis saying how nice of a time he had, or something of the sort. And right now, he didn’t want to read that. Not when he was at war with himself for leaving Ignis at the hotel and not going upstairs with him. But he wasn’t that kind of guy, that would look for a hookup like that. No, he really _really_ liked Ignis, so he knew that this was the best course to maintain that admiration. 

He got undressed, and put his phone face down on his nightstand and crawled into bed. The urge was strong to check, but he resisted. It could wait until morning. It had to, for his sanity’s sake. Closing his eyes, he tried to shut his brain down, but all he could do was think about their dinner date, because that’s what it was. No cameras, no vlogging, no posting to social media. It had been the two of them, living in the moment with one another, enjoying a meal together. 

***

Noctis woke up the next morning slightly dazed, his cheek slightly damp from the drool that had spilled from his mouth while he slept. Groaning, he lifted his head and wiped off the grossness. He reached for his phone, and saw the alert that he had neglected to look at last night. His heart began to pound, as he unlocked his phone to read it. 

“ _I had such a wonderful time with you, Noctis. Part of me wishes that I had the courage to invite you up to my room, but I don’t want you to think that I was looking for a quick shag. I’m not that kind of a person. But know that I wish I had a little bit of that in me, because right now I really wish you were here beside me. Have a good night_.” 

Tears sprung into his eyes as he reread the message a few times. “ _Honestly, I wished for the same thing. It’s the reason I didn’t see this message until this morning. I was afraid you had sent me a message that was inviting me back to your room. I really like you a lot, Ignis. I didn’t want to ruin it. I hope you’re having fun at your brunch, and that you have a safe flight back to Tenebrae_.” 

Dropping his phone onto his bed, he got up and headed to his bathroom. He hoped that the ache in his heart wouldn’t be around for too long, because he didn’t have time to be a mopey person. It was only two nights. That was it. At least he was able to have those. 

He took a shower, and put on a pair of lounge pants and an undershirt, then picked up his phone off the bed. He saw another message had come through from Ignis. “ _I understand. Yes, it’s fun so far, but I feel a little less than chipper right now_.” 

“ _Don’t be sad. D: Where are you off to next week? Somewhere fun for your channel?_ ” 

“ _I’ll be traveling to Gralea in Niflheim. Then I’m taking some time off. :) I should have the night market posted in the next couple of weeks_.” 

Noctis bit his lip, and he began to type. “ _What if your subscribers want us to do a crossover? I doubt you’ll be flying back out here anytime soon_.” 

“ _I suppose we’ll have to see. ;) And you’re right - but that doesn’t mean you couldn’t fly out here_.” 

His stomach dropped at the suggestion. “ _Remember - I’m a poor college student. There’s no way I could afford a flight like that. My best friend gave me money to cover last night’s dinner. That’s how broke I am_.” 

“ _It’s a good thing I paid. Which I would do again, if you wished to fly out to Tenebrae to work with me_.” 

Going over it in his mind, he knew he had a break coming up in three weeks. “ _For how long? A weekend? A few days? I have a break coming up in three weeks_.” 

“ _How long is your break?_ ” 

“ _Two weeks_.” 

“ _Let me think about it. I can price flights when I return home_.” 

Noctis felt his stomach lift a little, as a small gathering of butterflies made their presence known. “ _I could find a place to stay, if that’s what you’re worried about. I’m sure I can find something inexpensive_.” 

“ _Nonsense. I have a two bedroom apartment. You would stay with me. I have to go now - the bride has just arrived. Again, thank you for the wonderful weekend, Noctis. :)_ ” 

He smiled as he typed one last message. “ _You’re welcome. I’m really happy you came to my city. :) Have fun!_ ” 

The idea of him possibly spending more time with Ignis made those mopey feelings right out of his head, only to be replaced with a feeling of excitement. He didn’t want to get his hopes up, but it sounded like Ignis was serious about flying him out. He was going to have to tell Prompto when the video of the night market was uploaded, that he had to comment on how they should do a collab together. One way or another, he was going to see Ignis again. 


	4. Horntooth Meat Pie

* * *

Two weeks later, Noctis was walking into his class when he felt someone grab onto his arm. Looking down, he saw it was Prompto who had a huge smile on his face. “Do you not have your phone? Is your phone on silent?! How can you not be freaking out right now?” 

“I forgot it at home.” He waited for Prompto to remove his hand, allowing him to walk into their class together. “Why? Did someone famous die?” 

“Dude, it’s _Wednesday_. And you know what comes out on Wednesdays.” 

Over the course of the last two weeks, Noctis had kept up with watching Ignis on all social media platforms, but they had been texting each other so much back and forth that sometimes it slipped his mind that he had new content out. “Oh, Gods. Don’t tell me it’s-” 

“The night market!!” Prompto held his phone up in front of his face. “Look!! You’re in the thumbnail!!!” 

His heart skipped a beat as he saw that Prompto was telling the truth. And what made it even worse is that he knew he was missing texts right now from Ignis. He _hated_ when he forgot his phone at home. “Ugh. I want to watch it, and I don’t. Oh, shit. I really don’t want to watch this episode, or look at the comments. Remember - you said you would comment.” 

“I know! I will! You leave next Saturday, right?” 

Noctis shook his head. “No, I’m leaving on Friday evening. I’ll be getting there on Saturday.” Ignis had found a really good deal on a direct flight from Insomnia to Tenebrae, and bought it for him for his holiday break although Noctis was still a little nervous about it. But he couldn’t refuse, and knowing that they’d be producing content while he was there made it like a work expense for Ignis, so he didn’t feel too bad at how it had worked out. “It’s crazy, isn’t it?” 

“What’s crazy is that you're going to be sleeping in his apartment. You’re going to see how he lives! That’s wild!” They sat down at their desks, and Prompto looked down at his phone. “I’m going to comment that I think you guys need to do a collab together. Well, lemme watch the video. What if he cut that out?” 

He dropped his head on his desk. “He didn’t. Trust me. He told me he was keeping it in, because he wanted to embarrass me.” 

“You two are really becoming quite friendly with each other, aren’t you?” 

It was true - they really did text one another a lot since that weekend when Ignis had been in Insomnia for his friend’s sister’s wedding. It still hadn’t really hit him yet that he was going to be flying across the world to go and spend more time with him. “Don’t be jealous, Prom. You’ll always be my best friend.” 

“Ew, gross? I never said I was jealous.” Prompto shushed him. “Now let me watch! I’ve got some time.” 

Raising his hand up, he flashed a thumb’s up sign to him as he put his head down on top of his bag. He groaned as Prompto began to slap his shoulder, knowing he was probably now on the video. “Would you stop?” He twisted his back, trying to discourage Prompto from hitting him. But apparently it didn’t work, as he was still tapping him hard on the shoulder. A part of him wanted to watch with him, but it was always awkward watching himself. He really did hate it. 

“I love that night market.” Prompto’s hand finally stopped hitting him. “But you didn’t hit up my favorite stall.” 

“I forgot.” Noctis turned around to look at him. “Did he make the skewers?” 

“He did.” Prompto had his head down, as he was typing something onto his phone. “I’m leaving my comment about how you guys should definitely do a collab. I mean, you’re going to, right? That’s why you’re going to Tenebrae?” 

“Yeah.” He still wasn’t sure what the nature of his visit was going to be. With as often as they text each other, he wasn’t sure if Ignis was just being really nice, or if there was going to be some other reason for his visit. Which, after talking to him as much as he has been, he wouldn’t be opposed to, but they both were very adamant when the tickets were booked that it was going to be a friend visit. “He said he would be gentle with me, and we’d do easy recipes. Which means I’m fucked.” 

His best friend started to laugh. “You really are. But that’s what will make the content great! Ah, I’m so excited for you! See? Why haven’t you thanked me yet for telling you to send him a direct message?” 

“Because I’m in denial that this is all happening.” Before he could continue, their professor showed up. Turning back around, he grabbed his notebook and a pen, and got ready to take notes on the lecture. 

Prompto held his phone out to him after class was over. “Please, watch the video. You can log into your account so you can at least leave a comment. He doesn’t know you have your phone, right?” 

“How could he? I don’t have my laptop with me.” Noctis took Prompto’s phone as they walked out of class together, and moved to the other side of the hall. “You sure you don’t mind?” 

“Not at all! Please, I’m sure he’s wondering what your comment is going to be.” 

Pulling up an incognito browser on Prompto’s phone, he logged into his Moogletube account and saw the thumbnail that Prompto had shown him on his homepage. _I look so stupid_. He tried not to be too judgemental of himself as he clicked on the thumbnail, bringing the video up. It was a trip to see what he had shared with him show up on Ignis’ channel. He saw that Ignis had taken video of him without him realizing it as they had walked through the night market together. It made his cheeks heat up, as he couldn’t believe he had done something like that. When it came to Ignis cooking the skewers at home, Noctis couldn’t help but be enamored by the way he made them so effortlessly. 

“Don’t forget to tell me if you’d like to see me do a collaboration with Mr. Night Sky Prince. Be sure to check out his channel - I’ve left a link down below. I think a few of you might appreciate his humor, and the way he tries to recreate my recipes. Remember - subscribe to my channel if you liked this video, and hit that little bell so you can be notified when I upload a new adventure. Ta for now, darlings!” Ignis waved at the camera, and the screen cut to black. 

Noctis began to type. “ _I’m really happy you liked the night market. As an Insomnian, it was my honor to share with you good, inexpensive food. Keep up the awesome work!_ ” He posted his comment, and then signed out before closing the incognito window. Handing his phone back to Prompto, he shook his head. “I looked ridiculous.” 

“You looked like you were having fun! And really, who the heck cares! You got to spend some time with Ignis, aaaaand you get to do it again in a week and a half!” 

People pushed past them in the hallway. “Thanks for letting me use your phone. I’ll let you know his reaction when I get home.” 

“Please do.” Prompto waved, as he headed towards the stairwell. “See ya later!” 

He walked down the hall, and made his way to his next class, hoping that Ignis wasn’t going to call his comment lame. It was going to be another three hours before he was going to be back home. Hoping that Ignis wouldn’t be worried that he wasn’t texting him back, Noctis instead threw himself into focusing on his upcoming tests before the break. He could worry about that stuff later. 

***

Walking into his apartment at a quarter to seven, Noctis raced to his bedroom to grab his phone off of its charger. He saw six different notifications on his phone - all relating to Ignis in some sort of way. Two alerts were from Moogletube - one for the new video that ‘A New Recipe’ had uploaded, and one for the like that Ignis had left on his comment. The next two alerts were for Warkker, where Ignis had posted a status about the adventure he was currently on. The other one was a direct message from Ignis on Warkker, which he decided he would check later. The next one was for a post on Glaivesbook, one he could check later, and the last was six unread texts from Ignis that got progressively more concerned as the day passed by. 

“ _I’m uploading the night market video today. I hope you’ll like how I edited it!_ ” 

“ _You haven’t seen, or replied to my last text. Are you not feeling well?_ ” 

“ _It’s been almost an hour since I sent my last message, and still nothing. Did I do something wrong?_ ” 

“ _Ah, I see you commented on the view. *Whew* At least I know you’re alive by that_.” 

“ _You are alive, aren’t you? I still see you haven’t read any of my texts_.” 

“ _Noctis? I hope I didn’t offend you by any of my messages. Please, let me know you’re okay?_ ” 

He didn’t bother to send him a text, and instead pushed the button to call him. “Noctis??” Ignis answered his call after the first ring. 

“Hey, Ignis. I’m so sorry - I didn’t mean to worry you. I was a complete idiot today, and left my phone at home.” Noctis spoke in a rush. “Prompto let me use his phone so I could post a comment on your new video, but I didn’t want to log in to Warkker as Prompto had to get to class. I’m really sorry I worried you.” 

A soft sigh came through the receiver. “I’m just glad you’re alright. I know I had no reason to be worried, but I couldn’t help it. You usually respond to my texts within at least a half hour of me sending them, if not sooner.” 

“Like I said, I’m really sorry that I worried you. That was never my intention.” Noctis dropped his bag on his kitchen table, and went to sit down on his couch. “The video turned out great, but to be honest, I’m too afraid to check the comments.” 

Ignis’ laughter filled his ear. “I wouldn’t be too worried. It seems that quite a few of my viewers think that a collab is definitely necessary. So, I guess it’s a good thing we booked your ticket out to Tenebrae.” 

“Oh, good.” He spoke softly, as he leaned his head back against the couch. “Shit, what time is it where you are? Is it late?” 

“It’s early.” More laughter rang in his ear. “I’ve been awake for the past two hours. I’ll be home this weekend, which is good because I need to do a deep cleaning of my apartment. Can’t allow you to see the filth I live in.” 

Now it was Noctis’ turn to laugh. “I doubt that’s even possible, Ignis. But fine - if you insist.” 

“Are you excited about your visit?” 

“I am. I’m really excited. But I have to get through my tests first.” 

“And I need to get through my work for the channel. We’ll both be on a well deserved break.” 

He smiled, as he lifted his head up. “I can’t wait.” _I can’t wait to hug you again_. He left the comment unsaid, as he wasn’t sure if Ignis would appreciate a comment like that or not. 

“Neither can I.” They stayed quiet for a few minutes. “I hate to cut this off so soon, but I’ve got to get ready for my day. Have a good rest of your night, Noctis. Thank you for calling me, so I could stop feeling worried.” 

“I’m sorry, Ignis.” Noctis felt bad for making him worry so much. “Have a good day today!” 

“Talk to you soon.” Their call ended. 

Noctis made a mental note to make sure he never forgot his cell phone again, as there was no way he was going to live in misery like he had today. And he definitely didn’t want to cause duress to Ignis, when he had his own things to worry about. He didn’t need to panic on Noctis’ behalf. But there was a small part of him that liked that Ignis was so worried, as it showed that he cared about him. Looking at the calendar on his wall, he saw that he had nine more days before he was going to be on a plane heading west to Tenebrae for the first time in his life. 

Studying came first. He would worry about the days passing by slow later on. He had to focus on making sure he passed his classes, so he could enjoy his upcoming working vacation. Standing up from the couch, he went and sat at his kitchen table and began to study for the rest of the night. 

***

“ _I know you’re probably asleep, at least I hope you are, but I’m at the airport. About to board my flight. See you in a few-ish hours. :)_ ” Noctis texted Ignis before turning off his phone, as the second announcement came over the speakers in the airport that his flight was beginning to board. Shifting his backpack over his shoulder, he got his ticket out, and got in line for passengers that were heading onto the plane. 

He’d flown plenty of times before, but this was his first time traveling to a different country on his own. He had triple checked all of his documents, making sure that he had everything. Prompto had driven him to the airport, as his flight was scheduled to leave at ten in the evening. By the time he landed in Tenebrae, it would be Saturday afternoon. It was going to be a ten hour flight, and Noctis had come fully prepared. 

They had both agreed that spending a week together would be best, that way Noctis could still have a week at home to do what he wanted before heading back to school. He was a little worried that a week wouldn’t be long enough, but since they had spent so little time together when Ignis had visited Insomnia, they could wind up annoyed with each other by the end of his visit. He hoped it wouldn’t be like that, though. 

About three hours into the flight, Noctis fell asleep and didn’t wake up until there was only two hours left of their flight. He ate his delayed service meal, as the flight attendant told him they didn’t like to wake passengers up for meal service. The food was okay - not the greatest, but definitely not the worst he’d ever eaten before. He looked out the window and saw that they were still flying over the ocean, the sun now up in the sky as they made their way across the world. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, we’re beginning our approach into Tenebrae. Please make sure that your seatbelts are fastened, and your trays are put into the upright position. The temperature outside is a nice twenty degrees, and for those folks that are used to the other measurement, that’s a nice sixty-eight degrees for you. We hope you’ve enjoyed your flight with us.” 

Noctis did everything the woman that had spoken told him to do, as his nerves began to skyrocket. This was it - he was going to see Ignis again soon. He couldn’t believe it. Every single time they spoke to one another, it never felt really real, and yet - his flight was almost done. Looking out the window, he could see land now, clouds scattered in the sky as they began their descent back down to land. 

Standing in line for immigration, Noctis could see what Ignis had meant. Since he’d only really traveled on Lucian continent, he hadn’t really ever had to deal with customs before. With his passport and suitcase in his hand, he gave it to the immigration officer, and after a few simple questions his passport was stamped, and he was on his way to the outer terminal. 

He wanted to break out into a run, but it had been a full flight, so he was stuck walking at the pace of everyone else on his flight, as well as a few other international flights that had landed recently. As they moved at a slow pace, he took his phone out of his pocket and turned it back on. Waiting for the wi-fi to kick in, he saw that he had a couple of unread messages. Prompto had sent him a message almost moments after he’d gotten onto the plane. “ _Hope you had a great flight!_ ” The second text was from Ignis, which looked like he’d sent a few hours ago. “ _I was. I hope you had a good flight. See you very soon. :) I’ll be waiting for you towards the left of the exit_.” 

It was torture to be moving at this glacial pace. But he couldn’t push ahead, because that would be rude. Finally, he could see people waiting for their friends and or loved ones, which made him feel relief. Thinking about where Ignis said he would be waiting for him, he left the area and looked to his left, hoping that it was the correct area. He saw Ignis standing there, dressed as he had been when they had gone to sushi - jeans and a shirt - with the largest smile on his face that Noctis knew had to be like the one on his own. 

He wheeled his suitcase over to him, and was quick to raise his arms up when he saw Ignis holding his out to him. “You’re here.” Ignis whispered into his ear, as they held each other tight, making sure that they were out of the direct path of other passengers. “I can’t believe you’re really here.” 

“I am.” Noctis held tight to him, still not believing that they were together again. “I think. Maybe I’m still asleep on the plane, and I’m dreaming this. But it feels real.” 

“You are not asleep.” He waited for Ignis to pull away, and saw the smile was still on his face. “Let me take that for you? Are you hungry? We could pick up some food and head back to my place, if you want?” 

“I think I’m good for a few hours.” They started to walk out of the terminal together, and headed towards the large parking structure across the street. “I think I slept for five hours on the plane.” 

“That’s impressive. I can only ever manage to sleep for a half hour, maybe an hour, when I fly.” Noctis followed Ignis towards a nice car. “Well, if you think you can move around for a bit, I can take you to one of my favorite places to eat? It’s a sit down restaurant.” 

“You mean, you don’t have standing restaurants? Wow, how backwards is this country?” He grinned, as he helped Ignis put his suitcase into the trunk, then dropped his backpack with it. “That sounds great. Is it a place you’ve used for one of your recipes?” 

Getting into the car, he buckled his belt, and turned towards Ignis after putting a pair of sunglasses on. “I have. Do you remember when I made the meat pie? It was one of my first videos I published.” 

“I do.” Noctis saw Ignis put on a pair of prescription sunglasses, then turned the car on. “It had that really nice flaky crust, right?” 

“Yes.” Ignis nodded, then backed his car out of his parking spot, and headed towards the exit. “We’ve got a little bit of a drive ahead of us - I live in a suburb of Tenebrae. It’s about a thirty minute drive on the highway. You don’t get car sick, do you?” 

He shook his head. “No, I’m good. Nothing really makes me queasy. Not driving, flying, boats, roller coasters. I’ve got a really strong stomach.” As they made their way to the highway, he looked out the window, and felt his mouth drop. “It’s beautiful out here.” 

“Do you think so? It’s home, for now.” Ignis commented, Noctis keeping his eyes on the passing green scenery. 

“For now?” The last comment pulled his eyes away from the window, as he looked over at Ignis. “What does that mean?” 

“Since Moogletube’s headquarters are located in Insomnia, I’ve thought about possibly moving over there.” Noctis felt his stomach roll at the possibility of Ignis moving over to his city. “I have a few close friends that live there, so I wouldn’t necessarily have to start from the beginning if I moved there.” 

“Oh, wow.” He tried to keep his voice level, but inside he was exploding. “What’s that timeframe look like for you, if you were to do it? Your channel is really popular, isn’t it?” 

“It’s one of the top ones in that category on Moogletube.” Ignis nodded his head, as they started to make their way across the highway to take the next exit. “But I’m still weighing my options, because right now I do the channel as a hobby. I’m lucky that my actual job is flexible enough that I can go and travel for the channel, and do other things. To give that up completely - that’s a step I’m not sure I’m willing to take.” 

They exited off the freeway, and began to drive through a suburban neighborhood. “That is scary, because what if you fade out? You’re in a new city, with limited resources.” 

“That is exactly why I’m hesitant to make ANR my source of income.” The car turns into a parking lot, and comes to a stop. “So, it might be awhile before it happens, if it happens at all.” 

“I know we’re not that close, but if you need any help, I’d be happy to offer it to you.” Noctis took off his sunglasses, and looked over at him. 

“I appreciate that, Noctis. Thank you.” Ignis smiled, Noctis’ heart fluttering a little. “I hope you’re hungry, because this place serves some amazing food.” 

Having no idea what to expect, he followed Ignis into the restaurant, and saw that it was a medium sized restaurant, with only a few empty tables. “Ignis!” One of the waitresses greeted them. “You’ve brought another friend?” 

Noctis tried not to feel a spark of jealousy at the comment. “You know that your place is the first stop for anyone that comes to visit me.” The comment eased the jealousy, but only by a little bit. _How many people has he brought here? Does he fly a lot of fans out here, and then has his way with them?_ He couldn’t help but hear Prompto’s voice remind him that the person he saw on Moogletube might not be the same person Ignis is in his natural habitat. “May we have that table over there?” 

“Sure can! Go ahead and get yourselves set up, and I’ll be right over with a menu for your friend, since I know you won’t be ordering anything except for your favorite meat pie.” 

The polite smile he saw on Ignis’ face was one he had seen countless times in his videos. “You know it.” Noctis followed him over to the table, and allowed Noctis to choose his seat before taking the seat opposite him. “I do tend to bring people that come and visit here first, because their food is some of the best near my apartment.” 

“I think it’s great that they know you so well here.” Noctis picked up his napkin, and draped it over his lap. “I tend to mostly eat at home, and by eat I mean microwave my meals.” 

“By the time you head home, you’ll know how to cook one meal without burning it to char.” Ignis laughed, as he picked up his own napkin. 

“That is a very bold statement, Ignis. I’m not sure if you’ve seen my channel - A Recipe for A Disaster. I have fifteen videos that I would like to call ‘complete disasters’.” The more he went on, the more Ignis laughed, which made him smile. “For you to say that I’m going to be able to cook something without burning it by the end of this week? I call bullshit.” 

“We’ll see.” A wink was thrown at him, almost knocking him backwards as he returned Ignis’ smile. “Ah, here’s a menu for you.” 

He took it from the waitress that had greeted them earlier. “Would you guys like something to drink? Cola? Lemonade? Water?” 

“I’ll take some lemonade.” Noctis requested, before looking down at the menu. “And I think I’m ready to order?” 

“What would you like?” 

“I’ll try the meat pie as well.” He handed his menu back to her, after Ignis had ordered a second lemonade. “I didn’t try to cook yours, because pastries and I don’t have a good relationship with one another.” 

“I think you and the kitchen are sworn enemies.” 

Laughing, Noctis nodded his head. “I think I might have to agree with you on that one, Ignis.” 

Their meat pies were brought out to them, and with the helpful tip from Ignis, Noctis chose to eat his pie with a knife and fork rather than pick it up and eat it. It was very flaky, and the meat practically melted on his tongue. He could see Ignis watching him as he enjoyed his first bite, and after he swallowed, Ignis asked, “Well? What do you think?” 

“I know why you bring everyone here first.” Noctis said, as he took another bite. “Please tell me we’ll come back here again this week?” 

“We will. Their breakfast is one of my favorites in the area.” 

“Good.” 

Ignis paid for their meal, insisting that Noctis save his money for later, which he happily obliged. The drive back to Ignis’ apartment was a quick one, and soon he was walking into his apartment, that he knew so well due to his show on Moogletube. “Welcome to my place, Noctis. I’ll put your suitcase in the guest bedroom for you. Feel free to explore, if you’d like.” 

The apartment was huge. A lot bigger than Noctis expected it to be. There was a distinct living room area, a distinct dining area, a very spacious kitchen, and a full bathroom near the front door. After taking his shoes off, he walked into the bathroom and saw that his hair was a frightful mess. “Oh my Gods - why didn’t you tell me my hair looked so bad?” He called out, as he tried to fix his unruly hair. “I should have worn a cap on the flight.” 

“You looked fine to me.” Ignis’ voice carried through the apartment. “Were you trying to impress someone?” 

_You?_ Noctis bit back the remark, managing to get his hair somewhat under control. “I guess not.” He called out, then walked back out to the living room. “Is there only one bathroom?” 

“No, I have one in my master bedroom.” Ignis walked out of the guest bedroom. “So, you don’t have to worry. If you prefer to take showers at night, or in the morning - it doesn’t matter to me since I won’t need to fight you for the bathroom.” 

“Ha ha.” He looked up at him, and felt his heart starting to beat hard again. “I haven’t looked in your kitchen yet.” 

“And yet, I think you’ve seen it quite a few times already.” Ignis held his arm out. “Shall I show you where the ‘magic’ happens?” 

“Can I ask you something first?” 

“Of course.” 

Noctis cleared his throat. “The lady at the restaurant said that you always brought new people in to that restaurant. Have you had a lot of people come and visit you that you’ve met because of A New Recipe?” 

“If you’re asking if I’ve flown other people out here, and invited them to stay with me - the answer is no.” His shoulders dropped as the tension in his body began to relax. “Have I had people say that want to come and visit, and then I meet them at that restaurant? Yes. As a person that has a brand, it’s something that is part of the job.” 

“Right. That makes sense.” He nodded his head. “I really appreciate you giving me this opportunity to do some work together with you this week. Did a lot of people say we should do that?” 

“They did.” The smile on Ignis’ face brought a sense of serenity over him. “But we don’t have to do anything tonight for that. Maybe we can talk about what you would like to try? We could do a recipe we’ve both done before, and see if we can make it right?” 

Walking into the kitchen felt strange, as Ignis was right. He knew this kitchen so well from his videos. If he looked to the left, he knew he’d find the rack of spices that Ignis used often in his cooking. If he looked to the right, the large coffee maker would be in his view. Turning around, he looked at the oven, and the back counter that had plenty of space to set up prep work. That feeling of surrealness returned, as he turned back around to face the invisible audience. 

“What do you think?” Ignis asked, as he stood near him. “Do you like my kitchen? It’s one of the reasons I chose this apartment.” 

“I remember when you moved.” Noctis nodded his head. “It’s a very good reason to move. I’m not sure what you pay for rent here, but something like this in Insomnia would set you back at least two thousand gil.” 

“Insomnia is not a cheap place to live.” 

“You can say that again.” 

Noctis walked over to the couch in the living room, and sat down. As soon as he did, he felt the room spin a little. “Oh. I think my battery is dying.” He remarked, before standing back up again. “Do you mind if I take a quick nap?” 

“Not at all. I’ve got things I need to do, so don’t worry. Would you like for me to wake you up in two hours?” 

“I’ll set my alarm.” Noctis shook his head. “Do we have plans for dinner?” 

“I was going to make something for you.” 

Trying Ignis’ cooking was reason enough to wake up in two hours. “That sounds amazing. Thanks, Ignis. I’ll be back in a couple of hours.” He walked into the guest bedroom, then closed the door behind him. 

He pulled his phone out, and sent a text to Prompto. “ _Made it here. Went to lunch, gonna pass out. Ignis is so nice. I think I might die on this trip_.” He set his alarm for two hours, then dropped down onto the bed without bothering to remove the throw pillows, or take the comforter off. He passed out to the world, the travel catching up to him fast. 

His alarm began to blare at him two hours later, and with intent to murder, Noctis picked it up and hit stop before sitting up. He felt like a zombie, but as he rubbed his eyes, he began to feel a bit more normal. Standing up, he stretched a little, then brought his suitcase up onto his bed. Looking around, he saw a small television resting on top of a dresser, and a bookshelf that was full of culinary books. The queen sized bed was pushed up against the wall, which Noctis liked because it reminded him of his own bedroom, where he had his own bed pushed up against the wall. 

“Everything alright in there?” Ignis’ voice came through the closed door. “Have a nice nap?” 

Walking over to the door, he opened it and smiled. “I did, thank you.” He noticed that Ignis had changed into a pair of black and white plaid lounge pants, and a white shirt. “Pajama time?” 

“Since we’re not leaving again.” His host nodded. “I’m almost done prepping dinner, which I can make any time you’re ready.” 

His stomach growled at the mention of food. “Probably sooner rather than later.” 

“Understood. Come on out when you’re ready?” Ignis reached for the doorknob, and began to pull the door closed for him. 

“I will.” 

He turned back around, and pulled out a pair of black lounge pants, and was quick to put them on, as he took off his socks and put them in a plastic bag that he kept in the front pocket of his suitcase. Keeping the shirt he wore on the plane, he put his suitcase on the floor and headed back out to the living room. 

“Would you care for some water?” He walked into the kitchen, and saw Ignis was cooking some sort of poultry. “I don’t know about you, but planes tend to make me feel severely dehydrated.” 

“Yes, water would be great.” He took a seat on one of the kitchen counter stools, not wanting to crowd Ignis in his kitchen. “Do you work tomorrow?” 

“No, I took this week off.” Ignis passed him a full glass of cold water. “Honestly, I need the break. I’ve been going nonstop now for quite some time. I’ve really been looking forward to this.” 

Wanting to ask if he meant his visit, or the break in general, Noctis decided it would probably be better if he didn’t know. “I bet. But it’s fun, right? Getting to do what you do?” 

“It is. Which is why I keep leaning towards making it my full time job, but again - I don’t know.” 

Noctis took a sip of his water. “Well, it’s a good idea to keep your options open. After I graduate from college next year, I plan on taking some time off before jumping into the workforce.” 

“That’s a very wise idea. I wish I had done that.” 

“How old are you?” Noctis asked. “If you don’t mind me asking.” 

“Not at all. I’m twenty-five. And you are…?” 

“Twenty-one.”

“Lovely.” 

He picked up his water, and after taking another sip, he looked at what Ignis was cooking. “What is that?” 

“It’s buttered chicken.” Ignis poured some rice into a rice cooker on the back counter. “It’s been marinating since this morning. I think you will like the flavors. At least, I hope you will.” 

Noctis set his glass of water down. “I like butter, and I like chicken. It sounds good.” 

Ignis’ laugh made his cheeks become slightly flushed. “I like your attitude, Noctis.” 

“Please, call me Noct? That’s what all my friends call me.” 

“It would be my pleasure, Noct.” 

Dinner was served at the dining table, and Noctis was _floored_ by how good Ignis’ cooking was. “You know, if this Moogletube thing doesn’t work out, you should open your own restaurant. Your food is remarkable, Ignis.” 

“I’m happy to hear you like it. Not many people get to experience it first hand. Sure, I may teach you how to make what I make, but they won’t all taste the way I make it.” Ignis smiled, as Noctis nodded his head. “Maybe we could use this as one of our experiments?” 

“I’d love that.” Noctis took another mouthful, and savored it for as long as he could before swallowing. “It’s really good.” 

He took care of cleaning up the kitchen, although he had to fight Ignis on it. “I’m your guest. Let me do something, please. I don’t want to feel useless this week.” That had made Ignis agree, which made him feel a little better. He then joined Ignis on the couch, as they chose something to watch on Mogflix together. 

By the time the movie was over, there was only a tiny bit of separation between their bodies on the couch. “I suppose I should head to bed.” Noctis said, as he saw that it was close to ten. “Do you wake up early, Ignis?” 

“I do. Only because I’ve gotten used to receiving texts that wake me up.” 

Noctis stood up, and kept his back turned so that Ignis couldn’t see the blush on his cheeks. “Guess it’s a good thing I’m here now, so you won’t be woken up early.” He began to walk to the guest bedroom, then turned to look at his host. “Good night, Ignis.” 

“Sleep well, Noct.” The look on Ignis’ face brought the butterflies to life in his stomach, as he turned the knob on the door. 

Taking the decorative pillows off the bed, he threw them onto the floor, then laid down on the bed after stripping down to his underwear. As tired as he’d felt sitting on the couch, he was now wide awake. Ignis was probably already in bed, fast asleep while he was stuck not feeling tired. Plus, it didn’t help that Ignis was so close, but so far away. 

His phone buzzed with an alert. Reaching for it, he saw what it was and almost dropped his phone in surprise. Ignis had just sent him a text. “ _Are you asleep yet?_ ” 

“ _No. I feel wide awake right now. I can’t seem to shut down. And why are you texting me? You know we’re under the same roof right now_.” 

“ _Would you like some company?_ ” 

He gasped softly as he read the text again. “ _That’s a tough question to answer_.” He remembered what had happened after they had finished their meal of sushi, and how he had really thought about following Ignis upstairs to his hotel room. “ _I think I should go to bed_.” 

“ _I understand. If you change your mind, I’ll be up for a couple of more hours, and wouldn’t mind the company_.” 

Figuring he wouldn’t be falling asleep anytime soon, he got up from the bed and put his clothes back on. Slowly opening the door, he saw that the living room was dark, except for the light that was coming from the television. Ignis was stretched out on the couch, laying on his left side, his cell phone sitting on top of the arm of the couch. 

“This time change is brutal.” Noctis said, closing the door behind him. He saw Ignis start to sit up, which made him shake his head. “No, you don’t have to get up.” 

“Where will you sit?” 

There weren’t very many options for him to choose from, but not wanting to overstep Ignis’ hospitality, he decided the best course of action would be to play it cool. “I can sit on the floor? Just give me a couple of pillows?” 

“I don’t mind sitting up.” 

He shook his head, as he went and moved the coffee table, giving him enough room to stretch his legs out. Ignis put one pillow down, then handed him the second one, as he took a seat down on the pillow. “See? All good.” He rested his back against the couch, hyper aware that Ignis was so close to him right now. “What are you watching?” 

“A nature show on Mogflix. It’s one of my guilty pleasures.” 

Noctis shifted on the pillow, and slid down a little further so that his head was now resting against the cushion of the couch. “I like nature shows. There are some weird creatures that live on this planet.” 

“It’s fascinating to me that there is so much that we still don’t know about our planet.” On the screen was a group of garula, who were moving together as a herd through a lush green field. “It helps me appreciate what we’re able to eat because some of these creatures are quite tasty.” 

“Don’t you feel bad, though?” 

“No, because I make sure to purchase from a sustainable source.” 

“Ah, that makes sense.” 

They fell quiet as the show continued on, the narrator making it seem a lot more dramatic than it was on the screen. Noctis was barely paying attention though, as he was too fixated on the nearness of Ignis’ body. They had been talking through texts so much over the last few weeks, but he still wasn’t sure which door Ignis preferred to go through, or if he even had a preference. Or a lover. If he had a lover, then the thoughts he’d been having about him would never come to fruition. 

“You seem like your mind is somewhere else right now.” Ignis’ soft words caused him to startle, as he wasn’t prepared to hear his voice. 

“Ah, sorry. I have a bad habit of zoning out - I usually have to watch your videos a couple of times to get the whole picture because of how bad it can be.” He didn’t want to admit the reason he usually zoned out was because he was thinking about him, which is exactly what had just happened. 

“Anything in particular on your mind?” 

“Kind of? But I don’t know if it’s appropriate to talk about.” 

“Whatever is on your mind, feel free to speak it. I won’t be bothered by it in the slightest.” 

Turning his head, he tilted it back and saw that Ignis was looking down at him with a kind smile on his face. “I know it’s none of my business, but I guess I was wondering if you were seeing anyone romantically?” His palms began to sweat. This had to be a dream - he wouldn’t ever be so bold to ask such a question if he was awake. 

“I am not.” Ignis shook his head. “Are you?”

He broke off their eye contact, as he turned to look back at the television as some animal was getting attacked by a larger animal. “No.” 

“Now that that’s out of the way, would you care to join me on the couch?” The tone of voice that Ignis used made the hair on his arms stand on end, as it was made very clear what Ignis was offering. “Or are you still comfortable on the floor?” 

Not answering, he kept his eyes on the television screen but like before, he wasn’t paying any attention to what was going on on the screen. He was weighing his options in his head - if he were to get up and sit on the couch, he could sit near where Ignis’ feet were, and pick them up and lay them on his lap. Or, he could sit where Ignis’ head is, and place his head on his lap. But then, he could also share the small space with him by laying on his side, becoming a little spoon to his big spoon. One was safe, the other two were risky. 

“ _I don’t want you to think that I was looking for a quick shag. I’m not that kind of person_.” 

The words from Ignis’ text after dropping him off at the hotel helped him make the decision. Standing up from the floor, he sat on the edge of the couch right where he had been sitting, and then moved so that he was stretched out on his side, his back touching Ignis’ chest. He felt his hand touch his hip, the touch causing him to gasp softly. 

“I’m glad you chose to join me.” Ignis’ breath caressed his ear, Noctis struggling to keep his composure. “Would you like to watch another episode?” 

He hadn’t realized the credits were rolling for the show. “I’d be okay with watching another one.” 

Ignis took away his hand from where it had been resting on his hip, and picked up the remote to choose the next episode. “I don’t like keeping it on autoplay, because sometimes I don’t wish to continue.” Again, the words were spoken near his ear, Noctis barely keeping it together. “If you wish to head back to bed, as this might lull you into sleep, let me know?” 

“I will. If I fall asleep, I’m sorry. It’s not the show.” Noctis tried to make an excuse for himself. 

“I know.” His hand returned to Noctis’ hip. “Is this alright?” 

His eyes stayed glued on the screen as he gave a nod of his head. “It’s fine.” 

Anaks were on the screen now, the narrator discussing how they liked to travel in a small group when they went hunting for lush vegetation to eat. Noctis was acutely aware that Ignis’ thumb was resting right above his hip bone, so close to making direct skin contact that all Noctis had to do was take a deep breath and he would feel his thumb on his body. There was nothing more that he wanted than to feel him touch his skin, but he was afraid to take the next step. 

“Are you watching the show?” Ignis’ voice penetrated his ear, as they both subtly shifted on the couch together. “Falling asleep?” 

“Not yet.” He whispered, not bothering to answer the first question because he knew neither of them were watching the show. “Still too wired.” 

“I know the feeling.” Noctis tested the waters, and took a deep breath. Sure enough, as soon as his shirt lifted up, he felt the touch of Ignis’ thumb on the small patch of skin. “I’m getting rather tired myself.” 

Ignis’ thumb lightly grazed his side, the touch complete torture for him. “You should go to bed.” 

“You’re right. I should.” Another finger touched his skin. “Would you like to keep watching? The remote is easy to use.” 

Taking another deep breath, he felt two more fingers touch the expanse of skin that was still showing. “I should go to bed too. Try to, at least.” 

“Then we should get up from the couch together.” 

“That would probably be a good idea.” 

The show was paused, and then the television was turned off, leaving them with only the light from the over the oven their only source of illumination. Neither of them made a move to get up off the couch, instead they stayed in their positions for a few minutes longer. Each little touch of Ignis’ fingers against his skin was creating a dilemma inside of Noctis’ mind. _Should I turn over? Should I stand up? What do I do?_ Deciding that maybe doing something this soon after arriving might not be the wisest idea, he decides to play it safe. Since he was the one on the outside of the couch, Noctis began to sit up, then moved to stand. He offered his hand to Ignis, not at all surprised by the warmth his palm provided to his own as he hoisted him up off the couch. He released his hand, and began to walk over to the closed door that led to the guest bedroom. 

“Guess I’ll see you in the morning?” 

“You will.” Ignis stood close to him, so close that Noctis had to take a step back to see him properly. “If you wake up late, it’s alright. I know the time change isn’t going to work in your favor right now like it did for me. Get all the rest you need.” 

Noctis felt his heart stop as Ignis brought his hand up to touch his face. On instinct, he closed his eyes and turned his head towards the touch. “Good night, Ignis.” He touched his lips to the center of his palm, and gave it a quick kiss before pulling his head away. 

“Good night, Noctis.” His name was whispered, then before he could say anything else, Ignis touched his lips to his own with the same amount of pressure he’d just used on the palm of his hand. “Sweet dreams.” Ignis’ breath tickled his lips before he pulled his head away. 

Grabbing onto the doorknob, Noctis gave it a quick twist and was back inside the guest bedroom, his back against the door as he closed it shut with a soft _click_. With his heart hammering, he waited two minutes before moving away from the door. He thought about opening it, hoping that Ignis might still be standing there, but then the jet lag finally caught up to him. Stumbling back over to the bed, he didn’t bother to take off his clothes, and instead dropped down and passed out.


	5. Memory Lane Pastry

* * *

Noctis woke up the next day feeling refreshed and rested. After a long day of traveling, and his late night, it felt good to feel this rested. Reaching for his phone, he looked at the time, and sat up quickly. “Oh, crap!” It was half past one in the afternoon. He got out of bed, and saw that he was still wearing the clothes he’d worn last night, feeling somewhat gross. _I can’t see him like this!_ Grabbing his deodorant from his toiletries bag, he put some on, then prayed to the Gods that his hair wasn’t a complete mess as he walked over to the door and opened it. 

The television wasn’t on, and as he stepped further into the apartment, he saw why. Ignis was sitting at his dining room table with his laptop, a pair of headphones covering his ears. Not wanting to startle him, Noctis walked over towards where he was at a somewhat slow pace, but when he saw him lift his head up, he began to walk a little quicker. 

“Hello!” Ignis spoke loud, louder than necessary but Noctis knew that whatever he was listening to in his headphones was the culprit of his volume. “Hang on a sec.” Ignis held up his hand, as he looked back down at his laptop. Once the headphones were removed, he spoke at a more reasonable decibel. “Sleep alright?” 

“A little too well, I’m afraid.” Noctis scratched the back of his neck, staying in place. “I’m so sorry - I had no idea what time it was.” 

“No reason to apologize.” His host stood up, and stretched a little. Noctis’ eyes caught a glimpse of Ignis’ toned stomach, as he was still wearing the same clothes that he had on the previous night as well. “I knew you would be waking up late. Granted, I didn’t anticipate it would be _this_ late, but again - no reason to apologize.” 

He looked up, and nodded his head. “So, um - did you eat breakfast and lunch already?” 

“I did. But, I can whip up something for you if you’d like? Do you have a preference - would you like to eat something breakfast-like for lunch?” He followed Ignis into his immaculate kitchen. “How about some french toast?” 

“That sounds amazing. I usually have dry cereal.” Noctis leaned against the counter, as he watched Ignis get ingredients out. “Would you mind if I took a shower while you cooked? I hope that isn’t rude.” 

“Not at all. I left two towels on the counter in the bathroom for you - I wasn’t sure if you prefer a large towel, or an extra-large towel. So you have your choice.” Ignis looked over at him. “By the time you’re finished, I should have finished cooking some brunch for you.” 

“You didn’t have plans for us today, did you?” 

A shake of his head brought relief to Noctis. “Nothing that can’t be done at another time. I knew that today was going to be an off sort of day. No real set plans.”

“Great. I swear, I won’t sleep this late tomorrow.” He looked over at the bathroom door. “You sure you don’t mind? I’ll make it quick.” 

“Take your time. It’ll take me about twenty minutes to get everything cooked for you.” 

Walking back to the guest bedroom, Noctis grabbed his toiletries, a pair of clean underwear, a pair of lounge pants and a clean shirt to wear. He kept everything against his chest, and then went into the guest bathroom where he saw the towels that Ignis had said would be there waiting for him. He got his shampoo and conditioner set in the shower, then grabbed his soap and put it next to it. He saw some amenities in the shower, but decided that using his own might be best. 

The shower did the trick - it made him alert, and feeling more refreshed. Towel drying his hair, he pushed it back, but knew that as it dried it would fall back into the loose spikes his follicles somehow maintain. Brushing his teeth, he looked in the mirror and it dawned on him what happened last night as he was going to bed. Ignis had kissed him. With his eyes widening at the thought, he dropped his head down and spit out the soap in his mouth, then rinsed it out. 

_Holy crap - how could I have forgotten that?!_ Setting his toothbrush down, he looked at his own reflection and stared at his face. _He kissed me. He really kissed me. And I didn’t do anything. Oh, God_ s. Shaking off the inner turmoil he was feeling, he hung up his towel, and pulled his shirt over his head. Opening the door, he saw some steam leave the bathroom and evaporate out in the living room. 

He could smell his french toast, and the smell of bacon. His stomach gurgled as he walked back over to the kitchen. “That smells amazing, Ignis. Is it the one you made for your show?” 

“It is.” Ignis gestured to the table. “Go ahead and sit wherever you’d like. I’ll bring the food over to you. Would you care for coffee, or something else to drink?” 

“Coffee sounds perfect.” 

“I must warn you, I take mine very strong. Would you like some creamer to cut the bite a little?” 

“How about we put it on the table, in case the flavor is too much for me.” 

The sound of the fridge opening met Noctis’ ears as he took a seat next to where Ignis had been working on his laptop. “I was putting some finishing touches on the video I’m going to be releasing on Wednesday. Would you like to see a rough cut before I queue it to post on Moogletube?” Ignis asked, as he brought a small container of creamer over to where Noctis had chosen to sit. “I had to tweak the audio a little, which is why I was wearing my headphones earlier.” 

“Really??” Noctis nodded his head, as Ignis brought over a plate full of french toast, a few slices of bacon, and warmed syrup in a ramekin on his plate. “That would be really awesome. But, it’s okay if you’d rather I watch it on my own later. I brought my laptop too, so I can watch it on there.” 

Ignis sat down next to him, and took the audiojack out from his laptop. “Nonsense. I would be more than happy to show it to you. The next couple of weeks, I’ll be posting what I filmed while I was in Gralea a week and a half ago.” He looked at the software that Ignis used to edit, and saw him pull up the draft he was working on. “How’s the food?” 

“Oh!” He’d forgotten that it had been set in front of him. Picking up his fork, he cut into the corner of the bread, and tasted it first before drizzling syrup over it. “This is a rich batter.” 

“It’s almost custard-like.” Ignis smiled, and nodded his head. “I’m glad you could tell.” 

“It’s really good.” He cut another piece with his fork. “So, what’s this first video going to be?” 

“Well, we went to a historical museum, and then went to a small restaurant across the street that served the most wonderful dish of tomato and egg.” Noctis blanched at the mention of tomato. “You really have that strong of an aversion to vegetables?” 

“A tomato is a fruit.” Noctis swallowed his bite of food, and continued. “I don’t go out of my way to eat them. Crush them up? We’re good. Eat it sliced, with cheese? No, thanks.” 

“What if I showed you how good they could taste if you ate them, as you say - sliced with cheese?” He could see an amused smile on Ignis’ face, and tried not to feel embarrassed by his own preferences. “You need the right slice of cheese.” 

“How did you get to be so good at what you do?” Trying to change the subject, he picked up one slice of bacon that he’d poured syrup over, and began to eat it. “Have you always enjoyed cooking, and trying to replicate recipes that you get to try?” 

He reached for his cup of coffee, and took a sip. Ignis was not kidding when he said he liked his coffee strong. Setting it back down, he casually reached for the cream and poured a little into his cup. “I’ve been cooking my own recipes - or versions of others - for the past twelve years. Like I told you when we met each other, this is more or less my hobby. Although, now that I’ve got close to one point five million subscribers, it’s becoming more lucrative to turn it into my day to day job.” 

“But then you’ll have to make sure you’re consistent with your content.” Noctis took the last bite of his french toast, and then finished his bacon. “I don’t have that kind of time, which is why I only post at random.” 

“I do consistently post now. To free up my time, and not have to worry about my day job - it sounds ideal. The move, however - that’s still to be determined.” 

Noctis got that weightless feeling in his stomach at the casual mention of Ignis moving to Insomnia. “Show me the video? Then I can do some of the dishes while you finish up editing? It’s going to publish around nine at night here on Wednesday?” 

“Thereabouts.” Ignis moved his hand, and hit play. “I hope you like it.” 

Watching Ignis show him around Gralea, Noctis couldn’t keep the smile off of his face. Getting to see this before anyone else - well, besides the people that had been with Ignis that day - and it seemed there were a few, it made him feel incredibly special. Then, the transition from showing the sights, to being back in a kitchen was as flawless as it ever was. 

“You do all of your own editing?” Noctis asked, after the video finished. 

“I do. If you remember, my earlier videos were a bit on the hokey side.” 

He laughed. “You mean, how you did a lot of unnecessary transitions?” 

“Quiet you.” Ignis knocked his knee against his, which made heat shoot up his spine at the unexpected contact. “I’ve gotten a lot better over the last year.” 

“I can’t really talk, because Prompto - you know, my best friend I told you about before?” Noctis had made sure to tell Ignis about him once they began texting one another a lot, since he spent a lot of his free time with Prompto. “He does everything for me.” Noctis picked up his coffee, and took another tentative sip. This time, the flavor was a lot less bold and much more palatable to drink for himself. “He started to watch your channel, and I made him subscribe so you could have another subscription.” 

“I hope it isn’t torture for him.” 

“I don’t think so? I mean, we have fun when we make our videos.” Noctis shrugged his shoulder up, then took another sip. “Did….” He looked over at Ignis, and saw he was looking at him with a questioning gaze on his face. “Did you want to try and work on a collab today? We could try shooting a simple dessert?” 

Ignis nodded his head. “I like that you want to do a dessert first. You know, those can be a bit more complicated than cooking a meal.” 

“Yeah, but think of the hilarity that could ensue if we were to do baking first. That way, we bring them in with some laughs, but they’ll stick around for when we try to do something a bit more serious.” 

Noctis was spitballing the idea, and hadn’t expected Ignis to agree to it. When he saw him nod his head, his mouth dropped open. “I do like the idea of starting off with something more fun, and lighthearted. Yes - we can make an Ulwaat berry jam tart.” 

“I’m glad I brought some nice clothes. I might need to steam them, though. They might have a few wrinkles from being in my suitcase.” 

Standing up from the table, Noctis carried his plate into the kitchen, and began to wash it. He noticed that most of the utensils that Ignis had used to cook were already cleaned. “You don’t have to dress to match me.” He dropped his fork in the sink, when he felt Ignis’ presence close by him. 

“I know, but I think it would be nice. How about I dress nice for this one, and then the next one we film, I’ll wear what I normally wear. Deal?” 

“I think that’s a marvelous idea, Noct.” 

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Ignis was pouring himself some more coffee. “Going to finish editing your video?” 

“Do you mind if I do that?” Ignis asked, as he walked back over to the table. “I shouldn’t be too long.” 

“I was asleep for the entire morning. Please, do whatever you want.” Noctis put the plate in the dishrack to dry. “I can find something to do. Don’t worry about me.” 

After he finished, he went into the guest bedroom, and put the clothes he’d been wearing before his shower into a small bag, then pulled out his nice clothes to make sure they weren’t too awful. Picking up his phone, he sent Prompto a text. “ _Woke up a little bit ago. Ignis fed me, and oh right - he kissed me last night._ ” 

“ _WHAT. CAN YOU TALK ON THE PHONE?!_ ” 

He went over to the door and closed it, then went further into the room before calling Prompto. “Now, before you ask - we haven’t talked about it yet. I really didn’t remember until I was almost finished getting ready for the day.” 

“HOW CAN YOU NOT REMEMBER SOMETHING LIKE THAT?!” 

Noctis winced at how loud Prompto’s voice was. “Um, do you remember how long my flight was? And I had gone to bed, but I couldn’t sleep, so I got up again and we watched that popular nature show on Mogflix.” 

“Are you guys sleeping in separate rooms?” 

“Yes.” 

His best friend groaned. “Are you going to make a move?” 

“Maybe?? But I’m staying with him until next Sunday. What if it’s a mistake? Maybe I should wait to do something until next weekend.” 

“Like hell you will!” Prompto practically yelled at him again. “You know what you want, but you’re too damned chicken to get it. He _likes_ you, Noct. He kissed you, right? Because I’m guessing you didn’t forget you kissed him first.” 

“I kissed his palm. He kissed my lips.” 

“Please, I’m begging you - do something with him sooner rather than later. You can’t regret this trip, Noct. You know I’m right.” 

He nodded his head. “I know. Okay, I really have to go now. I’ll text you later.” 

“It had better say ‘I got some’, or something to that equivalent.” 

“Jackass. Bye.” He waited for Prompto to laugh, and for him to say goodbye before ending the call. 

Pushing some of his hair back, he kept his phone in his hand and walked back out to the living room. He saw Ignis on his laptop still, and gave a little wave before sitting down on the couch. He saw he had an alert on Warkker, which he decided to open. He saw a few photos of his brunch there, with the comment “ _Have a guest staying with me for a bit. My social media presence might be sparse while they’re here. Be good, darlings!_ ” The other alert was for Pictogram, where he saw a video of him dipping the bread into the custard before placing it on a hot pan. _I ate that_.

Ignis’ voice startled him as he scrolled through his feed on Warkker. “I’m just about done. I need to take a shower myself, and then - we can go to the store together to grab the ingredients for our first video?” 

“That works. I can change into normal clothes.” Noctis looked over at him, his cheeks flushing as his eyes made contact with Ignis’. “Maybe you can show me around your neighborhood a little?” 

“I’m afraid that will be necessary, as the closest grocery store is a few miles away from me.” Typing on the keyboard broke their eye contact, giving Noctis the opportunity to look back down at his phone. “There we go. All set to publish on Wednesday.” Ignis closed his laptop, then stood up and stretched. He wanted to look and see if he’d see his stomach again, but opted for keeping his eyes on his phone. “Do you need anything before I disappear for a bit?” 

“No, I’m good.” 

“If you do need anything, I think my kitchen is rather self explanatory.” 

He laughed, and nodded. “Thanks, Ignis. Go shower - I can smell you from over here.” 

“Not bloody likely.” Ignis returned the tease with a fake look of shock on his face. “I’ll be back in a bit.” 

Noctis waved, and then returned to looking at his phone. After mindlessly scrolling through both Warkker and Glaivesbook for ten minutes, he got up from his spot on the couch and went back into the guest bedroom. Closing the door, he walked over to his suitcase, and searched for the right pair of blue jeans to wear with a button up black shirt. He got dressed, and rolled up the sleeves of his black shirt, forgoing a tie in order to keep a few buttons opened at the top. Putting on some black socks, he walked back out to the living room and saw that Ignis was looking as pristine as ever in a pair of grey slacks and a white button up shirt that was also rolled up. A loosely knotted black tie hung around his neck. 

“Have a nice shower?” Noctis asked, as he put his shoes on by the door. 

“I did. Ready to go?” 

“I am.” 

They walked down to where Ignis’ car was parked, Noctis taking note that it was an older car - not as old as the one he drove, but it definitely wasn’t a brand new car. “Since it’s a nice day, would you mind if I kept the windows rolled down?” Ignis asked, as he started the car. 

“Not at all.” The front windows were brought down, filling the car with fresh air as they began to drive. “Hey, what’s your day job?” 

“I”m a consultant of sorts.” Ignis kept both hands on the wheel, both of them now wearing sunglasses. “Which is why I travel so much on this side of the world. It’s one of the reasons why I began my channel - I figured some people might not make it over to this side, so why not present it to them in a friendly manner?” 

“That makes sense.” Noctis turned to look out at the scenery, still somewhat shocked by how green everything was. “But you hate flying.” 

“I can tolerate it, because most of the flights I take are under six hours. The journey to Insomnia was nerve wracking for a number of reasons.” 

He turned towards him at the comment. “You don’t like weddings.” 

“Something like that.” 

Since it didn’t seem that Ignis was going to expand his thoughts any further, Noctis didn’t bother to press him about it. “For this pastry, you said it’s going to have jam in it. Does that mean we’re buying jam?” 

“Heavens, no. We’ll be making it ourselves.” 

“That’s what I was afraid you were going to say.” 

Ignis’ laughter brought a shy smile to his lips. “You won’t fail with me, Noct.” 

“I’m not so sure about that. Sometimes, I wonder how I can boil water properly.” 

“By the time you leave here, you may have to change the name of your channel.” 

Noctis snorted, and shook his head. “Your confidence is astounding, Ignis. Are you this way with everyone you know?” 

“Only with the ones I care about.” 

The grocery store was surrounded by a bunch of other shops, Noctis impressed by the layout. “It’s so weird to see a complex like this.” 

“Because all of your stores are in large buildings?” Ignis asked, as they grabbed a basket.

“Yeah.” As they walked into the store, he noticed how clean everything was. “Do you want me to give you some money for the supplies?” 

A hand on his upper arm caused him to stop walking, as Ignis turned to face him. “I know that money is tight for you, so please - you don’t need to offer any more. I appreciate the gesture, but you are my guest. I will treat you as such for this week.” 

“Okay, Ignis.” The will to argue was there, but he knew that Ignis was being nice about this. He hated not having money to spend without thinking about it. “I won’t bring it up again.” 

“Thank you. Now, let’s go find some Ulwaat berries so we can make our own jam.” 

“Can we pick up a jar of already made jam too? Just in case? Because Ulwaat berries are so expensive in Insomnia.” 

“Ah, good point. Yes - we can make the tarts both ways, then.” 

Nodding, Noctis went and grabbed the jam he’d seen earlier, then they paid for all of their items and headed back to the apartment. Taking off their shoes and socks when they got home, Noctis decided if Ignis was going to be barefoot for the video, so would he. No one would see their feet in the shot. He saw Ignis get his camera set up, turning most of the lights on for filming. He saw him grab his apron, and then was happy when a second one was handed to him. Tying it around his waist, he stood next to Ignis and couldn’t keep the smile off of his face - this was like a dream come true. 

“I’m going to let it record everything. I will edit later, so you don’t need to worry.” Noctis looked up at Ignis, and nodded his head. “Are you nervous?” 

“Extremely.” 

“You have no reason to be.” Ignis lifted up his hand, and touched his cheek. He rested the weight of his head against his palm, his eyes closing as he tried to remain calm. “If this turns out to be an utter disaster, we can always post it on your channel first.” 

Laughing, Noctis opened his eyes and stared up at him. “I promise I won’t mess things up on purpose.” 

“I know you won’t.” The gentle touch of his thumb stroking his cheek made Noctis’ stomach roll. 

The hand on his cheek was taken away, and Ignis moved around him to go over to the camera that was set up on a tripod and then saw the other camera on the edge of the counter. Noctis ducked down behind the counter, and waited for Ignis to return to his side. 

“Hello darlings! I’m afraid I don’t have anything special to share with you today in terms of travel, as I’m taking a much needed break. That being said, this is still a show about recipes! And today, I’m going to share with you a recipe that’s near and dear to my heart, because it’s something that’s baked regularly where I call home.” 

Noctis looked up, and saw Ignis hold up his hand. “You see? It’s an Ulwaat berry tart, that I think you’ll find scrumptious and delicious. We’ll be making it two ways today - one with fresh berries, and the other with jam for those folks that can’t get their hands on fresh Ulwaat berries. And today, I have a special guest with me.” 

He popped up from where he was ducking down, and gave a wave of his hand at the camera. “Hi, everyone.” 

“If you don’t remember, Noctis was kind enough to show me that wonderful night market in Insomnia. And because some of you agreed that we needed to shoot a collaboration together, well - you get your wish! He’ll be in the next round of videos, which will either be masterpieces, or they might fall apart. Join us on our journey together, won’t you?” 

Nodding his head, he wore a smile on his face. They paused for a bit longer, then Noctis began to speak. “If any of you know my work, you know that I’m notorious for botching up Ignis’ recipes. He’s assured me that that won’t be an issue today, but who here thinks he’s wrong?” He raised his own hand. “I know I think that way.” 

“Nonsense. If you do make a mistake, it’s because of me, not because of you.” Ignis replied, as they began to banter back and forth for the camera, while they set up their station. “Now, today you’re going to need the following ingredients and utensils to make this tart.” 

“Say tart again.” 

“I will not.” Ignis replied, a smirk on his lips. “You know what we’re making.” 

“I do, but with your accent, it sounds a lot better than how I say it. Right, everyone?” He looked directly into the camera. “Taaaart.” 

“Hilarious.” A bowl was pushed towards him. “Now, you’ll need to cut the tops off of these berries, then set them in a medium bowl.” 

Taking his cue, Noctis grabbed the knife that Ignis had put on the counter and picked it up. “Geez, Ignis. Where do you get your cutlery? Murderers Are Us?” He teased, as he went to work cutting the washed berries. 

“You heard it here first, darlings. I shop at Murderers Are Us for my wonderful knife collection, and for my pots and pans, I stole those from a poor woman who asked for a simple meal that I cooked for her.” 

He started to laugh as he finished cutting the berries. “And here we thought you were the nicest guy on Moogletube. I guess we were wrong.” He looked at the camera with a smirk on his lips. “Okay, Mr. Perfect. The berries have been cut. Now what?” 

“Now we cover them in sugar, and we’ll let them sit for an hour.” 

“An hour?! Oh no, you guys. I’m going to apologize in advance, because I’m pretty sure we’ll bore you to death if this video runs for that long while we wait.” 

“That’s the beauty of editing.” Ignis winked at the camera. “Now, stir the sugar all around, and then set it on the back counter so we can start our pastry dough.”

Noctis picked up the bowl, then looked over his shoulder at the camera. “Who knew Ignis was so bossy?” He grinned, then put the bowl where he was supposed to, then saw the ingredients for their pastry dough all lined up on the counter. “It’s like magic!” 

By the time they had the pastry dough made, both Noctis and Ignis were covered in flour, which might not be a big deal but given what Noctis had chosen to wear for the video, it was less than ideal. “This will teach me to never wear black when working with flour.” He looked down at himself, and shook his head. 

“I think it’s a rather dashing look, don’t you, darlings?” 

Again Noctis began to question if they were doing a bit for the camera, or if this was genuine flirting. He couldn’t let it stop him, though, so he continued to work as if it was all part of the act. By the time they finished making the homemade jam, Noctis could feel his sides hurting from laughing so much. The dry sense of humor that Ignis hit him with was distracting, as he kept messing up his measurements. He couldn’t remember how many times he had to grab the sugar, but he knew that Ignis was going to have a fun time editing the video down. As they waited for the pastries to cook, they took a couple of pictures that Noctis figured would go up on one of their Pictograms at some point, which he was more than happy about. 

“Which do you think is going to taste better, darlings?” Ignis held up the plate with two finished pastries. “You can clearly see the difference between the two - which one was made with our homemade jam, and the other with the substance we found in a jar.” 

“You are making it sound like the quick route is going to taste awful. I think you’re wrong.” Noctis defended the store bought jam. “Who’s with me? Comment down below!” 

Ignis’ laughter rang in his ears, as they both picked up their preferred pastry. “Alright, on the count of three, we’ll-”

“Feed it to each other.” He hoped that Ignis would go along with it, as he turned towards him. “No being mean, okay?” 

“Why ever do you think I would do something so cruel to you?” The smirk on Ignis’ lips let him know that this was a very bad idea. “Do you not trust me?” 

“No comment.” 

“Then, we feed one another on the count of three. Let’s see which pastry tastes better. We’ll switch after the first bite. Ready?” Ignis stared at him, Noctis trying to keep his lips in a thin line but it was difficult. “One, two….three.” 

The pastry was pushed up against his lips, as he pushed the one he was holding up against Ignis’ lips. They both took haphazard bites, and he could feel the jam they made start to drip down his chin, and he was pretty sure some was dripping from the corner of his mouth. He looked at Ignis, and saw he was in the same predicament with the store bought jam. Noctis started to laugh, which caused pieces of pastry to fly out of his mouth, which only made him laugh more. 

“You need to try the other one!” Ignis tapped on his arm, as he was still trying to recover from his fit of laughter. “Here, maybe just eat what’s in your hand.” 

“N-No.” He laughed more, as he gave Ignis the half-eaten pastry. “Here. Give me yours. I’ll taste this one.” 

“You’re going to shove it in my face again, aren’t you?” 

“No comment.” Now it was his turn to wear a smirk. “Ready? Let’s see which one tastes better. One….two….three.” 

Noctis did exactly as Ignis said he would, he pushed the pastry up against his lips, more jam dripping onto his fingers as Ignis took a bite. He took a bite of the pastry with the jam they made, and felt it ooze down his chin, and more falling from the corners of his mouth. “Which pastry is better?” Ignis asked, as they stared at each other. 

“The one we made the jam has a thicker consistency, but the one we made with the store-bought jam isn’t that bad. There is a distinct flavor difference, though.” He held up the pastry towards the camera. “And look - I didn’t burn it. Maybe this guy is right - maybe with his help, my disasters will no longer be disasters.” He grinned. “Thanks for having me, Ignis.” 

“It was my pleasure, Noctis.” Ignis looked at the camera. “Sometimes simple is the way to go. Don’t forget to click that little bell to be notified when I post a new video - I upload new recipes every Wednesday and the occasional outtakes other days of the week. You can be sure there will be plenty for this video.” Noctis laughed outright at the comment, and saw Ignis smile. “You can follow me on Pictogram - I like to post videos there from time to time on what I’m working on. I’m also on Warkker. Links all down below. Ta for now, darlings!” 

Looking down at his hand, Noctis showed Ignis. “There is jam _everywhere_. Why did we think eating these without a fork was a good idea?” 

“Everywhere, you say?” Ignis had yet to leave his side. “I’m not sure I follow you.” 

“You’re joking.” He turned towards him, and with his clean hand touched some of the jam that had wound up on the side of Ignis’ mouth. “Look. Do you not see this? I know I can feel some on my….” 

His thought disappeared as Ignis had turned his head, and was slowly lapping at the tip of his finger. Once the jam was gone, he held up his other hand, and felt Ignis’ fingers wrap around his wrist as his tongue licked the jam off of his palm. Knowing that Ignis had the same jam stuck to his hand, he reached for it, and brought it up to his own mouth, as he began to lick away the sticky byproduct of their eating pastries for the camera. 

“Did you say that I have some on my face?” Ignis asked, his words spoken in a more rich tone than before. He lowered his head to be closer to Noctis’, the space between their noses less than two inches apart. 

“You do.” Closing his eyes, he used the tip of his tongue to lick at the sticky substance that was on the corner of Ignis’ lips, then carefully let it slide between his lips until it got to the other side. Once there, he licked up the rest of the jam, his heart pounding hard in his chest as he licked up the rest of the jam from off of his chin. “W-What about me?” Noctis knew his voice was breathless, but it was either that or the words were going to be a squeak because the tension was so high that he was about to burst. 

“Yes, can’t forget you have the same problem…” His hand touched Noctis’ chin, and he moved his head in the direction that Ignis wanted it to go. He closed his eyes as he felt his tongue lick up the jam, and just like he’d done before - he felt the tip of his tongue glide in between his lips, then began to lick up the rest of the jam. He felt Ignis’ tongue on his chin, as he licked away the rest of the jam. “I don’t think there’s any more.” 

“There is.” Noctis nodded his head, and reached for the half eaten tart. Putting some jam onto his finger, he stared up at Ignis. 

“Show me…?” Taking his finger, he put the jam on the tip of his own tongue, and pointed to it. “I suppose I’ll have to take care of that, won’t I?” Ignis’ voice returned to that rich tone, that caused the hair on Noctis’ arms to stand on end. Noctis nodded his head slowly, as he kept the jam sitting right on the tip of his tongue. “Very well…” 

His eyes closed as Ignis pushed his tongue into his mouth, and licked the jam away. But once the jam was gone, the thick muscle of his tongue stayed in Noctis’ mouth, and he pushed his up against it as they truly kissed each other. His arms raised up, and he wrapped them around Ignis’ neck, then soon felt his arms surround him. With a deep moan, he pressed himself up against Ignis and was more than ready when he felt him push him up against the counter. 

Taking the initiative, he hopped up, and sat himself on top of the counter, his arms still wrapped around Ignis’ neck as he was now the taller one in this situation. Spreading his legs apart, Ignis stepped in the space between them, the two of them sharing hungry, passionate kisses. Pulling his mouth away, Noctis pressed his forehead against Ignis’, as their hands moved all over each other’s bodies. 

“W-What are we doing?” He gasped softly, as Ignis’ lips began to kiss just below his ear. “Is the camera still recording…?” 

“Oh, Gods.” Ignis pulled away from him, and walked out of the kitchen proper, and went over to turn off the camera on the counter, then went and turned off the camera on the tripod. “I’ll delete that. I’m so sorry. I was-” 

“Ignis, it’s okay.” Noctis jumped down from the counter, and walked over to where he was standing. “Worry about it later?” 

“Yes, right.” The touch of Ignis’ hand to his face was becoming a familiar one. “I hope you realize that what I said before - that still holds true.” 

“You’re not interested in having a one night stand.” 

“Or a two night, three night, etcetera.” 

Noctis smiled, and pulled his head away from Ignis’ hand, then put his arms around his neck and began to pull him down towards him. “I’m not interested in that either. I told you - I really like you a lot, and the more time we spend together, the more these crush feelings are developing into something more.” 

“I like you a lot too.” Ignis whispered, as their foreheads came together. “Tell me what you want, Noctis. Tell me, and I will do my best to give you what I can.” 

Noctis moaned softly, as Ignis began to move his lips back and forth against his, but wouldn’t leave them still enough to allow him to kiss him. “The only thing I know that I want is you, Ignis.” 

“Then you shall have me. _All_ of me.” 

Without another word, Ignis took his hand and the two of them went to the closed door of his bedroom. He stared up at him and gave a small nod of his head, sealing his fate as he followed Ignis into his bedroom. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Hooniearts](https://twitter.com/hooniearts) artwork for this chapter can be found [here](https://twitter.com/hooniearts/status/1215152991889526784?s=20).
> 
> The artwork that [Hackwolfin](https://twitter.com/Hackwolfin) drew for this chapter can be found [here](https://twitter.com/Hackwolfin/status/1215159408134512640?s=20).


	6. Two Way Crushes

* * *

It had been a long time since Ignis had someone in his bedroom. The fact that it was with a person he’s been itching to get to know for the last few months was still surprising to him. As he looked down, he saw that Noctis was still holding onto his hand, both of them covered in flour. Jam stuck to their clothes, and there was still a bit of stickiness to their fingers but right at this moment, he didn’t care. What he cared about was wanting to make sure that Noctis was okay with this transition to a different type of relationship with one another. 

Ignis turned towards him, and glanced down at his pants. “Oh, dear.” He shook his head, as he chuckled softly. 

“What? What is it?” Noctis asked, alarm in his voice. 

_Bugger_. He didn’t mean to make him panic by his choice of words. “It seems we’ve forgotten something.” He reached down, and gave a tug on the string that was tied around his waist. He grabbed the apron before it could hit the floor, and looked down at his own apron. “Care to do the honors for me?” 

“Gods, I thought something was wrong.” A nervous laugh left Noctis’ throat. Ignis stood perfectly still as he felt him remove the apron around his own waist. “What should we do with these?” 

“They’re covered in flour and jam, so it’s probably best if we put them into the wash.” He took the apron from Noctis, and then carried them over to his hamper near the door to his bathroom. “Now, then.” He returned to standing in front of Noctis, and held out his hand. “Should we make ourselves more comfortable?” 

Once he took it, he waited for Noctis to nod his head. “Hurry, before I realize I’m asleep and this is all a dream.” 

“It is very real.” Ignis took a step closer, and while keeping his fingers locked with Noctis’, he brought his other hand up to his face and gave his cheek a gentle stroke with his thumb before bringing his lips closer to his. “Let’s see if I can find some more stray jam…” The soft gasp that was Noctis’ reply made the corners of his lips turn up before bringing his lips back to Noctis’, sharing another kiss with the man he still couldn’t believe was here with him. It had been a whirlwind the last few weeks, and he knew it was about to become even more so with this imminent change between the two of them. 

***

“You’re coming to the wedding, right?” Ignis held his phone against his ear, as he stepped onto a gondola. “Because Iris is telling me you haven’t sent in your response yet. That true?” 

He groaned, knowing that Iris was right. “Give me a moment, Gladio.” He put his friend on hold as he told the gondolier where he needed to go. “She’s right. I haven’t. I’m so sorry - it’s been crazy the last few months with my channel. I’m fairly certain that the response is sitting in the provided stamped envelope on my dining room table.” 

“Look, I’m happy for you and all that, but this is important, Ignis.” As if he wasn’t aware of how important this event was. Ignis held his tongue, as he let his best friend continue. “You’re coming, right? Or is your channel going to keep you away from my baby sister’s wedding?”

“I’ve made certain that I will be back home to grab my things, and then I will be flying to Insomnia for you.” He felt a little queasy as he committed himself to flying across the world. It was the one thing he really didn’t like about this newfound fame he was experiencing due to his channel and being asked to travel as part of it. “Why couldn’t she get married where you grew up? Why must it be where you live now?” 

Gladio’s loud booming laughter came through loud and clear. “Because they met here. We’ve been living here now for almost six years.” 

“Why haven’t you talked her out of this? She’s barely had any time on her own in the world.” The gondola was getting closer to his destination - he could see his friends that he was traveling with waiting for him. 

“Because if she doesn’t do it like this, then they might run off and elope. My father doesn’t want that, so he’s spending the money now. So, your ass better be here.” 

“I won’t be able to make it for anything you have going on on Friday.” Ignis was quick to remind his best friend. “With work, and how long the flight is - I won’t get in until late.” 

“It’s fine. Saturday you’re ours all day. No excuses, Ignis. I don’t care if your channel blows up into the big time between now and then. You can’t miss this. I haven’t seen you in ages.” 

“Not since we went on vacation near Cartanica a few years ago.” One of his friends stood where the gondola was pulling in to dock, and held his hand out for Ignis to grab onto it. “And yes, I’m yours all day Saturday. I’ll call you when I’ve got my arrangements made.” 

“You’d better call me soon! Because if you don’t-” 

“I know, you’ll murder me.” Ignis laughed, and walked a little slower behind his friends to end his conversation privately. “See you in a few weeks, Gladio.” 

He waited for Gladio to say goodbye before putting his phone into his pocket. If he was going to buy these tickets to Insomnia, he was going to find an excuse to find something good to eat while he was in town. With his irrational fear of long distance travel, he wasn’t sure when he would ever get back to Insomnia. Making a note on his phone, he then switched it to Pictogram, and began to record a story for his one hundred thousand followers. The number still boggled his mind, but to keep himself relevant it was part of the job. He knew he was going to have to book his flight soon, but he would worry about it later. He had things to do for his Moogletube channel first.

xXx

He opened his phone app and called Gladio, who picked up on the third ring. “Don’t tell me you’re not coming here this weekend.” 

“My flight gets in around ten in the evening on Friday. What time do you want me to be where on Saturday? And do I need to wear a monkey suit, or can I wear a normal suit?” 

“You’re not on her line, so wear whatever you want. Within reason, Ignis.” 

“I’m not going to show up in a bathing suit, if that’s what you’re worried about. I love Iris like she was my own flesh and blood.” Ignis looked at his laptop, the video he was editing still in the same spot as it had been for the last hour. “Are you bringing a date?” 

“No. So, you’re stuck hanging out with me.” 

“Good.” Not that there would have been anything wrong if Gladio had brought a date. He was a pro at being a third wheel with Gladio, as it had been like that all through high school. “I’ll see you on Saturday, bright and early.” 

“Have a safe trip over here. Don’t worry - you’re safer up there than you are down here.” 

“Yes, I know. See you soon, Gladio.” He hung up, and stared again at his laptop screen. 

Figuring the editing could wait a little bit longer, he pulled up Warkker on his phone and pulled up the box to type a new post. “ _Does anyone know of a good place to eat in Insomnia? I’ll be there this coming weekend_.”

It wasn’t long before he started to get a bunch of comments on his post, and then a few DMs. One in particular caught his eye, a direct message from PrNightSkky. “ _Hey, Ignis. I love your show! It’s so cool you’re going to be in Insomnia. I was born there, and have lived there all my life. There’s a bunch of cool places that I’d love to show you. Or, if you don’t like to hang out with your fans, that’s cool. I can give you a list, and maybe I’ll see it on your channel!_ ”

Night Sky Prince lived in Insomnia? Well, that was interesting. He never thought he would be able to meet the person that has kept him thoroughly entertained whenever he posted a new attempt at making one of his recipes. As he was thinking about what to say in reply to him, an alert came up on his phone for a new video that was posted by the same person who had just sent him the direct message. He clicked on the notification, and saw that he had tried to make the fish recipe he’d posted earlier in the day. 

“Hello! It’s been some time since you last saw me.” Ignis remembered that it had been close to three months since this channel had posted a disaster. “Don’t worry - I’m still here, ready to make what one of my favorite vloggers made in his most recent video. Will it turn out the way he says it should? Or will it end up a complete disaster? Guess we’ll find out!” 

There were plenty of people that sent him messages, and shared stories on Pictogram with them recreating his recipes from his channel. He knew of a few people that did their own stuff on Moogletube - like Night Sky Prince, but none of them stuck out quite like he did. For one, he had no idea what his name was, as he never introduced himself in any of the videos. But it didn’t matter, because his charismatic charm was enough for the audience. 

He knew that Night Sky Prince was a fan of his. There were a few fans that he knew he could count on leaving a comment whenever he posted up a new video. Even with as many subscribers as he had, it was those few that he looked forward to seeing, and Night Sky Prince was one of them. He always said the nicest things. Ignis knew that Night Sky Prince would leave a comment fairly soon after he posted a video. 

The fish Night Sky Prince had cooked was now smoking very badly, and he couldn’t stop the tears from falling as he laughed hard. “Oh, no.” Ignis shook his head, as he watched as Night Sky Prince tried to get the fish to come off of the pan without any luck. “No, no no.” He kept laughing, as Night Sky Prince dropped the pan on the counter. 

“I guess this is another failed attempt at trying to make ‘A New Recipe’ recipe.” Night Sky Prince looked at the camera with a sour expression on his face, which only made him that much more attractive to Ignis. “If you like what you saw, click that subscribe button, and select to be notified so you can laugh while I cry through this sorry existence of inedible food. See you guys for my next disaster.” 

Happy to see that he was signed into his personal account, and not the ANR account, he began to type a comment. “ _I hope the fish didn’t smell as awful as it looked. Great content_.” He hit enter, and watched as his comment populated amongst the other comments Night Sky Prince had already received. Being able to have his two Moogletube accounts made life a lot easier for him - he could continue to like the things he liked without being questioned like his professional account would be had he liked Night Sky Prince’s video under that handle. 

Swiping the video off of his screen, he returned to the direct message. _I’ll reply after I get this editing done_. He set his phone down, and returned to the work he’d been putting off for most of the night. With a goal in sight, he was able to get it finished a lot faster than he normally would have. Picking up his phone, he began to type a reply to PrNightSkky. After reading it a few times, he changed a few words around, then hit send.

He was worried he might have been a little too enthusiastic with his reply, as he saw that PrNightSkky had yet to see his reply. _It was too much_. But he really was excited at the idea of meeting him. He’d met plenty of fans before, while out and about filming for his channel, but this - this was something else. There was something different about Night Sky Prince, and he wanted to figure out what that difference was. 

Finally, a reply came through. “A night market?” He spoke it out loud, excitement beginning to build for this coming weekend. He was going to be taken around by a local, and it was someone he was already somewhat enamored with. Out of all the fans that had responded to him, this was something that he never expected but was quite happy it had happened. 

Suddenly, two days didn’t seem like enough time to be spending in Insomnia. 

xXx

Ignis made a promise to himself that when he met Night Sky Prince, he was going to be calm, cool, and collected. But of course that had not gone to plan - as soon as he had met him at the night market, he was astounded by how personable Noctis was. 

Noctis. 

Was fate playing a cruel joke on him, meeting another person with such a unique name as himself? The name suited him quite nicely. Besides his personality, the most strikeable feature of Noctis’ were those beautiful blue eyes. They weren’t bright, but a subtle rich blue - royal blue; the perfect color for a man that called himself Night Sky Prince. 

He invited him to the wedding, like a fool, but luckily it seemed that Noctis wasn’t that interested in it. Which had made him both relieved and a tiny bit sad because he really did want to spend more time with him, but due to his obligations, there was no way that was going to happen. As the day of the wedding progressed, he found himself checking his phone more and more until Gladio grabbed it and turned it off. 

“Stop being distracted. Iris is going to have a fit if she sees you’re constantly on your phone.” 

Gladio was right - he didn’t have time to be like this, which is all the more reason he really wished that Noctis had said yes to crashing the wedding with him. Leaving his phone off for the duration of the blessed event, he turned it back on at the reception to take photos and videos to post up on Pictogram. No comments from Noctis on them, but he did see him liking a few of the pictures he’d posted. 

Their late dinner was perfect. Leaving the small restaurant, he was going to ask Noctis if he wanted to take a walk along the beach, but became too afraid he would balk at the idea. The moon was high in the sky, and the long stretch of beach they were next to was empty - he really wanted to spend more time getting to know Noctis a little better. As soon as he got into the car, he knew it was too late to suggest it, his time becoming more limited by the second. 

It physically hurt to say goodbye to Noctis. Hugging him had been the smartest, and the dumbest thing he had done all weekend with him. Noctis fit against him so well - it was like he was holding his missing half; the half he had been searching for for most of his adult life. And here he was, thousands of miles away from where he lived. Hugging him close, he wasn’t ready to let go but he knew he had to. 

“I hope that our paths will cross again soon, Noctis.” He whispered the words softly near his ear, afraid that if he spoke them any louder it would ruin the moment. “Take care.” Dropping his arms, he turned on his heel and walked back into the hotel. He wanted to turn around and run back over to him, but his feet would not move. He entered the elevator, and headed back up to his room for his final night in Insomnia with a heavy heart. 

Noctis’ laugh filled his ears, as the smile he had on his face all throughout their dinner was a permanent fixture in his mind. Pulling his phone out, he wanted Noctis to know why he hadn’t invited him back up to his room, though the urge to do so had been incredibly strong. Blinking back a few tears, he pulled up their conversation and began to type. 

“ _I had such a wonderful time with you, Noctis. Part of me wishes that I had the courage to invite you up to my room, but I don’t want you to think that I was looking for a quick shag. I’m not that kind of a person. But know that I wish I had a little bit of that in me, because right now I really wish you were here beside me. Have a good night_.” 

He looked at the empty space next to him on his hotel bed, and envisioned what Noctis would look like sitting there. Grabbing the camera he used to shoot their adventure at the night market, he looked at one of the pictures he’d taken of him. It had been a candid shot - he was talking to one of the stall owners they had gone to visit. 

Ignis had been right - the visit to Insomnia was too short. 

xXx

“ _Okay, if you’re sure about wanting to come out and visit me, I can book your flight right now_.” Ignis looked at his laptop, as he saw the tickets he was about to purchase so that he could spend more time with Noctis. “ _If you are sure that you wish to do this, then I will purchase them_.” 

His phone rang. “Are you having second thoughts?” Noctis’ voice came through his ear. He could tell that he was groggy - it was early in Insomnia. “Because if you are, then why are you telling me you found a flight?”

“I am not having second thoughts. Why would you think that?” He asked, as he watched the timer flash on his screen, alerting him that he had exactly nine minutes and forty-two seconds before his cart would empty. 

“Because you asked me the same thing twice. I want to come and see you, Ignis. Buy the tickets.” 

He exhaled, and put his hands on the keyboard. “I need your full legal name, as it’s required for the ticket.” 

“Noctis Lucis Caelum.” A soft yawn made him yawn quietly himself. “Did you buy the tickets?” . 

Pushing the ‘purchase’ button, he waited for the confirmation to pop up. “I just did.” He typed both his own e-mail, and the e-mail that Noctis had given to him a few days ago. “You should be getting the confirmation momentarily.” 

“I’m really coming out there to see you?” 

“You are.” He had never been so excited to purchase an airline ticket in his life. “Two weeks from today, as a matter of fact.” Ignis put the flight arrival time on his calendar, then put the departure date on there as well. “A week should be sufficient enough to make some fun content with one another.” 

“Y-Yeah, that should be plenty of time.” 

Ignis had almost asked if Noctis wanted to stay for the two full weeks with him, but having no idea what it would be like when he arrived, he figured if push came to shove, he could always change the ticket for a later date. “Well, I know it’s early for you, so I’ll let you get some more sleep before going to class.” 

“Thanks, Ignis. I’m really excited to see you again. I mean, in person. I see you on Moogletube already.” 

He chuckled at the comment. “I could say the same, but you don’t post as often as I do.” Ignis closed the tab, with the tab that had Noctis’ last video up now on his screen. He’d watched the barramundi episode four times now, and each time it made him laugh more. “Will Prompto be bringing you to the airport, and picking you up?” 

“Yeah. Cheaper than taking a cab.” He’d learned from Noctis about his best friend, and was relieved to know that they’ve been friends for a very long time. It was almost the same as his friendship with Gladio. “Okay, more sleep. Text me later?” 

“I will. Sweet dreams.” He looked at the paused video of Noctis’ face as he said the words. 

“Get to bed soon. Good night, Ignis.” Noctis ended the call. 

His hours of functioning had been fluctuating the last couple of weeks due to his always wanting to talk to Noctis. Which would normally not be great but with his consulting work it wasn’t impacting it too much. Every morning he would get a text from Noctis, and late at night he would receive one as well. Telephone calls happened every few days, as it was nice to hear his voice. Looking at his calendar, it was going to be a full two weeks for him prior to Noctis’ arrival, which he was happy about because it meant he wouldn’t think about him that much. 

Which was an abysmal lie, but he refused to admit it to himself. 

xXx

A week later, he received an e-mail from Moogletube asking if he would be interested to go in to visit the corporate headquarters. Shoot video of what the company offers to its employees - a few different cafeterias were on campus, and all had food served throughout the day. The company said that they would fly him out, and board him for his trip, which would be for a full week. At the end of the e-mail, it was implied how they wished he lived in the area, rather than in Tenebrae, as there were a plethora of opportunities in Insomnia. 

Ignis’ first instinct was to call Noctis, and share with him the good news, but with him coming to stay with him, maybe it would be better if he kept this as a surprise. His ticket was bought for him to fly back out to Insomnia a week after Noctis’ visit. Since he wasn’t going to have to spend money on a hotel, it made it even more lucrative. The comment about him living out there, though - that stuck with him. 

Picking up his phone, he called Gladio. “Hey, Ignis.” Gladio answered the phone after three rings. “What’s going on?” 

“How awful is the rent in Insomnia?” 

“In downtown, it’s awful. If you find a place in one of the suburbs, it’s not too bad. Why? You thinking about moving out here??” 

He pulled up a listing of apartments in Insomnia on his browser. “Well, I’m going to be flying back out there in a few weeks to do some work for my channel for Moogletube.” 

“Holy shit! They’re paying you to make content for the company you put your stuff up on?” 

“Something like that.” Ignis winced, hoping that Gladio wasn’t about to tease him about his channel again. “They made a comment about how there was more opportunity to do things for my channel in Insomnia, which I think they may be right. With the Lucian kingdom, there is a wealth of cuisine.” 

“Instead of snow, like in Niflheim.” 

“Exactly.” 

“Wait a minute. Why are you doing this now?” 

He cleared his throat. “What do you mean? How many people do you think Moogletube asks to come out and do some public relations for them? I know you hate my channel, but people do watch me, Gladio. I’m a quarter of a million away from two million subscribers.” 

“Serious?” 

“I wouldn’t lie. You should check out what I do. I think this might be the right time to go full time with it.” Ignis had been thinking about it off and on for the last few months, but after meeting Noctis - he knew he was going to have to be the one to make the sacrifice of moving. He knew Noctis had another year and a half of college, and maybe - maybe after that, he could try and convince him to move out to Tenebrae but he knew there was a lot more to do in Insomnia. 

“Yeah, but why now? Is it because of that guy you met when you were here for the wedding?” 

There was no pulling a fast one on his best friend, who knew of his feelings for Noctis as he’d discussed them with him at the wedding party brunch. “He might be another reason I’m thinking about it.” After what had happened earlier in the week when he couldn’t get a hold of Noctis after posting the night market video, he began to really understand the depth of his feelings for him. And right now, the idea of moving to Insomnia was high up on the list because of that discovery. 

“Not because your best friend lives here.” 

“You are also another ‘pro’ to moving to Insomnia.” Ignis scrolled down the page, and shook his head. “These prices are astronomical.” 

“I told you. But, if you know where to look, you can find something amazing for about what you would pay in Tenebrae.” Gladio replied. “I can start looking around, if you want? What about work, though? See what the market is like for your day job.” 

“You don’t think I can do this alone on my Moogletube endeavors, do you?” 

“It’s always a good idea to have a backup plan, Ignis.” 

“Quite right.” It was a good idea. “I’m sure it wouldn’t be difficult for me to find some work if I needed it. But yes - please start looking around for me? Like I said, I’ll be back in town in three weeks. We can spend some time together?” 

He heard his best friend laugh. “Sounds good to me. Talk to you soon?”

“Talk to you soon.” He confirmed, then ended the call. 

Only a week to go until Noctis would be with him, and there was still so much to do. 

xXx 

“You’re here.” He whispered into Noctis’ ear, as he held him tight against his body. Somehow, he got through the last week, and now here he was, standing in the middle of the airport with Noctis back in his arms. He held him tighter, inhaling deep as he kept him close to him. 

Noctis held him just as tight. “I am. I think. Maybe I’m still asleep on the plane, and I’m dreaming this. But it feels real.” 

“You are not asleep.” He was afraid that he might be the one that was asleep, because after dreaming of this moment for so long, it was finally here. And now that Noctis was with him, he felt like the piece of him that had been missing for so long was finally back with him. Which was strange because they had only met each other a few weeks ago, but still. That’s how it truly felt to him. 

At the end of the day, Ignis had shown restraint to the point where he thought he was going to pop. But they hadn’t discussed what their feelings for one another were yet - and he felt that if they had, then maybe they wouldn’t be torturing themselves the way they were. He knew if he kept to the mantra of his own show - keeping a little bit of patience would win out in the end. 

But how long would that be? He had kissed him, and there hadn’t been any response from it. Normally, that would have bothered him, but from the look on Noctis’ face as he walked back into the guest room, he wasn’t there with him. And why would he do something more if the other party was disengaged? He would see how things went tomorrow, and then would determine if his feelings were shared, or if he had misread the way they had been talking with one another. Which could very well be, as it had happened to him in the past. He hoped not, though, because he really liked Noctis a lot. 

xXx 

“I told you- I really like you a lot, and the more time we spend together, the more these crush feelings are developing into something more.” 

His heart sang as he processed Noctis’ words, as he brought his head down to rest his forehead against his. “I like you a lot too. Tell me what you want, Noctis. Tell me, and I will do my best to give you what I can.” 

Brushing his lips back and forth against Noctis’, his lips tingling from the soft moan that Noctis exhaled against them. Gods, he couldn’t wait to learn how else to get Noctis to make such a wondrous noise like that for him again. “The only thing I know that I want is you, Ignis.” 

“Then you shall have me.” He looked into those royal blue eyes that haunted his dreams on an almost daily basis. “ _All_ of me.” 

He reached for Noctis’ hand, and as he looked down at him he saw Noctis nodded his head. That was all he needed to see as he guided him into his bedroom. 

***

Pushing his tongue carefully into Noctis’ mouth, he stroked his tongue with soft leisurely strokes, as he expertly guided them both over towards his bed. Why on Eos he decided to wear a tie for this shoot, he had no idea because it was going to be one more item of clothing he was going to have to get rid of. The back of his knees bumped up against the side of his bed, and with it brought an end to their kiss as he helped get Noctis up on the mattress. 

Ignis laid down next to him, the two of them facing one another. “Would you like to undress me?” He asked, since it had been Noctis that said he wanted him, and he offered himself up to him without any hesitation whatsoever. “Or are you a bit nervous right now?” 

“I’ve masturbated and thought of you.” The abrupt confession out of Noctis’ mouth had him barking out a laugh, and then wasn’t at all surprised when Noctis buried his face against the side of his neck. “Oh my Gods, I can’t believe I told you that.” 

He put his arms around him, and held him close, still chuckling a little at the strange admission. “Hearing you say that, versus having to read it - you picked a much better way of confessing that to me.” He brought his lips to his ear, and left a kiss on his cartlidge. He could feel how warm his skin was, no doubt mortified by his own confession. “Please don’t be embarrassed.” 

“I had no reason to tell you that.” His voice was muffled, as Noctis kept his face against his neck. “I feel so dumb right now, Ignis. You could have continued on with your life if you had never learned that.” 

With Noctis secure in his arms, he gently rolled them until Noctis was laying on his back, his eyes staring up at him with his cheeks somewhat flushed. “You’re right - I could have, but now that I know that, I’m going to wonder about what sort of ways you pleasure yourself…” He brought his lips to Noctis’ jawline, and began to kiss a trail down to the top of his collar. “Do you watch one of my videos as if they were pornography?” He murmured into Noctis’ ear, smirking as he heard him moan softly at the question. “Or do you watch actual pornography, but mute it while another window is playing one of my shows?” 

Using careful touches, he began to unbutton Noctis’ shirt as he asked him those questions. By the time his shirt was open, Noctis was lifting his hips up for him. “I can’t tell you. You’re going to think I’m awful.” 

“I flew you across the world to be with me.” He looked up as he brought his lips to his pale chest. “Trust me when I tell you, I will _not_ think you’re awful.” 

“I thought you flew me over here so we could make content together.” His hips stayed elevated, allowing Ignis to casually slip Noctis’ pants down but was mindful of keeping his underwear on. “Was it always your plan to seduce me, Ignis?” 

The slacks were dropped to the side of the bed, as his hand slid back up to rest right above the band of his underwear. “I flew you out here to make content with me, yes. But I would be lying if I said I hadn’t hoped that something might happen between the two of us.” 

“You really do like me?” 

“Is that difficult to believe?” Ignis raised his head, as he helped Noctis pull the sleeves of his shirt down to his wrists. 

“Considering how famous you are?” Noctis nodded his head. “I’m nobody, Ignis.” 

“If I wasn’t on Moogletube, would you find me attractive?” He asked, as he returned his lips to kiss Noctis’ chest. “Or am I only attractive because, as you said, I’m famous?” 

He almost fell forward when Noctis unexpectedly sat up. “You are one of the most attractive men I’ve ever met in my entire life. I would think that if we were complete strangers. But we’re not.” 

“Correct.” Ignis sat up, and was about to undo the tie at his neck when Noctis reached out and began to take care of it himself. Feeling a little less worried now that Noctis was taking the initiative to undress him, he relaxed a little more. “So, we’re in agreement that if neither of us knew of the other, if we saw each other in a crowded room, we would both find each other attractive?” Noctis nodded his head, as he began to unbutton the white shirt Ignis was wearing. “Then why do you think so little of yourself, that you would question why I find you so attractive? What about all of our chats, and our conversations by telephone?” 

“It’s weird to me, okay? I’ve never had someone that I’ve had a crush on for months that likes me back.” Noctis pushed the fabric off of his shoulders, and went on the offensive, surprising Ignis by bringing his lips to the base of his neck. He released a heady moan at the touch, not at all ready for it. It was followed by another kiss, and then a light bite just below his collar line which made him release a deeper moan. “Gods, you sound so hot when you make those kinds of noises, Ignis.” 

“It feels good.” His own cheeks grew warm from the flush he knew was now covering his face and the upper part of his neck. “I like you, Noctis. I thought I was being rather obvious with my feelings about you, but clearly you and I are seeing things very differently.” 

The cool air of the room felt nice against his bare chest. Ignis pulled Noctis into his arms so that they could feel one another skin to skin. He laid him back down as his mouth locked over his, their tongues touching with powerful strokes. His belt was tugged on, and then his pants were pulled off, his boxer briefs staying on his body. Now that they were both in an equal state of undress, he pushed his leg between Noctis’, and rolled them again so that he was laying half on top of him, and half off of him. 

“We like each other.” Noctis stared up at him, as Ignis nodded his head. “So, does that mean we’re going to have sex?” 

“Is that what you want?” 

He saw Noctis bite his lip, then looked away from him. “Yes, but I’m not sure I want that right now.” 

“Then that’s all you have to say.” He started to pull away from him, but then was stopped by Noctis pulling him back towards him. “Noct?” 

“Just because I don’t want to have sex right now doesn’t mean I’m not interested in doing other things with you, Ignis.” Their eyes locked on to one another. “We can do other things besides that, right?” 

Accepting that Noctis had wanted to do something of a sexual nature with him, and not necessarily the act of sex, Ignis moved himself so that his knees were now on either side of Noctis’ hips. He locked his wrists near Noctis’ head, as he lined up his groin with his. “Other things?” Ignis teased, as he brought his clothed cock down towards Noctis’, and gently nudged his own mound against his. “What sort of other things…?” 

“Y-You know…” Noctis lifted his hips up, but Ignis pulled his own back before they could touch again. 

Ignis made him wait a few more seconds before he pushed himself back up against Noctis’ crotch. He could feel a small wet spot on his underwear, his cock beginning to leak with precum as he teased himself by grinding against Noctis’ own cock. “I’m afraid I don’t.” He lowered his head, dropping a soft kiss to the corner of Noctis’ lips before turning his head to the side to speak softly into his ear. “Tell me, Noct…” He pushed his hips down, and heard him moan low as they both started to move their hips in a slow rolling motion. “Have you pictured the two of us in this position when you touched yourself…?” 

“Yes.” The answer came quick, as Ignis knew it would. From the way Noctis’ hips moved, he knew that it must have been a favorite scenario of his, as he pushed his hips down hard to control the pace. “You have no idea.” 

“You never asked me if it was the same for me.” Dragging his lips over the shell of Noctis’ ear, he gave another hard roll as he could feel Noctis’ cock beginning to throb against his own mound. 

He lifted his head up, and saw Noctis’ eyes were closed, a look of absolute bliss on his face as they really began to move. He pulled Noctis’ underwear down, and did the same to his own so that their cocks could touch. The shuddering moan that left Noctis’ mouth at the touch had him groaning low in response. 

“S-So hot…” Noctis’ head moved from side to side, as both of their cocks rubbed together. 

Choosing to remain silent, Ignis concentrated on keeping the momentum going, not wanting to come too soon. He knew that Noctis was close, the expression on his face changing as Ignis rubbed himself against him. Taking his left hand, he used his right to keep himself elevated as he put his left around both of their cocks. 

“Touch the tip…” The words were slurred together, Ignis watching as Noctis’ chest arched up off the bed. “Please, Ignis….Please touch it…” 

His thumb swiped over the tip, rubbing the precum all over the flushed head of Noctis’ cock first, then did the same to his own. “Was that good?” He asked, his voice low. “You like to have the tip played with?” 

“Gods, I really do…” He brought his thumb back to the tip, and then moved it to be between both of their cocks, so he could stimulate both of them just below the tip. “I’m so close…” 

“Lose yourself…” Ignis whispered, as he stared down at Noctis’ half-lidded eyes. It was the most beautiful expression, and it was one he hoped he would see again. “Come for me…” 

Noctis’ mouth dropped open as his cock began to erupt. Ignis put his hand back around the both of them, and pulled Noctis through his orgasm, his eyes locked onto his as he brought him to orgasm. He released his own deep moan as he began to come moments later, his own release mixing with Noctis’, as they reached their apex at relatively the same time. 

It took a few minutes to get situated, both breathing rather hard after their orgasms. Ignis lowered his head, and began to kiss Noctis, their tongues leisurely touching one another as they prolonged their intimate connection for a little bit longer. Reaching for the box of tissues on his nightstand, Ignis grabbed a few and began to clean up the opaque mess that had collected on Noctis’ stomach, then took care to pull his underwear up for him. He wiped himself up, then did the same before laying next to Noctis on the bed. 

Stretching his arm out, he felt Noctis roll over towards him, happy to have him in his arms. “I’d love for you to sleep with me tonight, if you want?” Ignis spoke softly, as he felt Noctis’ breathing evening out. “Unless you’d rather go back to the guest room?” 

“No, I want to stay here.” Noctis shook his head, as he curled up closer to his body. “I’m afraid if I move, that this will be over.” 

He laughed softly, as his fingers began to comb through the soft strands of ebony hair on the back of Noctis’ neck. He heard him start to snore, which kept the smile on his face. “This is only the beginning.” Ignis whispered the words, not wanting to wake Noctis up. _You’ve got a strong hold on me, Night Sky Prince. And I won’t be letting you go any time soon_.


	7. Breaded Cutlet with Tomato

* * *

The strong smell of coffee pulled Noctis out of his slumber, as well as the smell of something being fried. He rolled over, and felt an empty space next to him. Opening his eyes, he looked at where he knew Ignis had been sleeping, hiding the lower half of his face with the blanket. He had spent the night in Ignis’ bed, after the two of them had done some things he’d only ever fantasized about doing. Burying the rest of his head under the blanket, he rolled onto his back and tried not to panic as it hit him. 

Taking a few deep breaths, he rolled out of bed, and looked at the piles of clothes scattered on the floor. He hadn’t worn an undershirt yesterday, so his only options were to remain shirtless, or put his button up shirt back on. Although Ignis had used tissue on him, there was still remnants of their fun that had dried on his stomach. Picking up his clothes, he decided that he could hide himself with them as he took them back to the guest room. 

He opened the bedroom door, and saw Ignis was in the kitchen, wearing a regular apron, and only his underwear. “Morning.” He greeted him, keeping his clothes in his arms, as he saw Ignis spin around, holding a spatula in his hand. “Breakfast?” 

“Yes. Since we neglected to eat dinner last night due to other activities, I figured you might be a bit hungry.” Ignis walked over to him, and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. “Sleep alright?” 

“I did.” He tried not to swoon from the kiss, but it was very difficult. “I’m a bit of a mess at the moment. Do you mind if I take a quick shower? Or is breakfast almost ready?” 

“It’s almost ready.” The sound of the toaster dinging caused Ignis to head back into the kitchen. “If you’re worried about not wearing clothes, you shouldn’t be. I didn’t bother to put on a shirt.” 

Struggling to not be too embarrassed, he cleared his throat. “Ah, well, it’s not really that. It is a tiny bit, but it’s more or less the dried um….well, you know - on my body.” 

“Right.” He felt his cheeks heat up more. “Quick rinse off?” 

“The quickest.” Noctis nodded his head, as he walked into the kitchen and kissed Ignis’ shoulder blade. “Less than five minutes.” 

“I’ll keep breakfast waiting for you, then.” 

He left the kitchen and went into the guest room, where he dropped his clothes on the bed - it was the only pair of slacks he’d brought with him. Heading into the bathroom, he turned on the shower, and took off his underwear, and did the quickest rinse off he’d ever done. He used only a little bit of soap, to get all of the residue off of his body, then began to towel dry himself off before putting his underwear back on. Since Ignis said he hadn’t bothered with a shirt, he would do the same, although it was a little strange. He hardly ever went around his own apartment dressed only in his underwear, and now he was doing it as a guest at someone else’s place. 

Leaving his towel to dry on the towel rack, Noctis headed out of the bathroom. “Oh, wow.” He saw the spread of their breakfast on the dining room table. “You didn’t have to make so much food, Ignis.” 

“I’m rather famished, so my eyes might have been bigger than my stomach.” Ignis looked at the seat next to him. “Would you care to sit next to me again?” 

“Yes.” Noctis walked over to where Ignis was sitting, and sat down where he’d sat for brunch the day before. “No laptop?” 

“Not yet.” Some juice was poured into a glass for him. “Food and coffee first. Then, I might grab the cards from the cameras, and transfer the data to my external drive. That way, if you feel up to it, we could record another segment today?” 

It was the reason why Noctis had agreed to come and visit him for the week, so it made sense to him. “Of course. What would you like to make today? Since I suggested we do the pastry first.” 

“I thought it was a good suggestion.” Noctis dropped his head, as he felt Ignis’ lips touch the top of his shoulder. “Especially since it gave me the opportunity to finally kiss you.” 

The hair on the back of his neck stood up, as Ignis’ words registered in his head. “Had you been wanting to do that?” 

“I kissed you the night before, didn’t I?” 

Again, he had forgotten about it. “Crap. That’s right. I’m sorry.” Noctis turned towards him, and saw that Ignis had a smile on his face. “I was so tired that night because of the flight, and the time change.” 

“That’s why I didn’t bother to say anything about it.” Ignis put his hand over his on top of the table. “It doesn’t matter now, does it? Not after what we shared last night.” 

“I don’t think it will ever feel really real.” Noctis looked down at Ignis’ hand, his lithe fingers that he’d grown so accustomed to watching on Moogletube were now on his body. “I know you’re probably a very private person, so I won’t say anything about this on social media.” 

He looked up, and saw Ignis was looking right at him. “I don’t mind if you do. But remember - I do have a brand that I have to deal with, so it might be better if I appear ‘on the market’ to these fans of mine. I’ve never really said anything much about my personal life on my show.” 

“It’s one of the reasons why I like your show so much compared to others that post baking, or cooking shows.” He leaned over, and brought his head to rest on Ignis’ shoulder. “You keep it interesting without needing to bring your own personal drama into it.” He lifted his head, and stared up at him. “Not that you have any drama. That isn’t what I meant.” 

Ignis’ smile turned into more of a smirk at the comment. “And how would you know? You just said I don’t bring it in to my show, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have drama in my life.” 

“Do you?” He raised an eyebrow up. 

“I don’t.” _I knew it_. Ignis moved his hand away, and picked up his fork. Doing the same, he looked at the meal in front of him and said a quick thanks before digging in. “I’m afraid I’m a boring person. Besides my work and the work I put in for my channel, it doesn’t leave a lot of time for me to have the luxury of having drama.” 

Reaching for a piece of toast, Noctis grabbed some of the jam they had made the night before and spread some on the bread. “I’m in the same boat, except instead of work and conducting business for my ‘channel’, I have school.” 

“How much time until you graduate?” 

He bit down on the toast, and groaned as he tasted the sweet confection of their labor of love. “A year and a half. Then I’ll be done, and will probably wind up working with my father. Unless I decide to go and explore the world first.” 

“So, you’re almost done.” Noctis nodded his head. “What sort of work does your father do? Sorry - are these questions too intrusive?” 

Noctis laughed, and shook his head. “Ignis, you touched my cock last night. I don’t think anything gets more intrusive than that. Sex, I guess.” He shrugged as he looked over at Ignis and saw that he was looking down at his food. “I like that you want to know about me.” He waited until Ignis looked up at him, before he answered his question. “My father is someone who is very powerful, and has a lot of money. But I had to get an education before I could be able to touch that money on my own.” 

“Your father is a very smart man.” 

“Don’t tell him that.” He ate some of his eggs, then saw a leather notebook near where Ignis was sitting. “What’s that?” He pointed to it with the toast he was holding in his hand. 

“That is my most prized possession.” Ignis picked it up, and set it between the two of them. “I take this everywhere with me. It’s where I jot down my ideas for recipes.” 

Ignis’ handwriting was immaculate. “Do you have a lot of these?” He asked, as he flipped through some of the pages. “You must have. I’m sure you’ve been collecting recipes for a long time.” 

“I have.” The book was picked up, and put back where Ignis had picked it up from. “I was thinking that we should try and make one of my favorite dishes. But, it requires something you don’t care for.” 

He groaned. “Green crap?” 

“Not quite.” The laugh that left Ignis’ throat at the question made his own lips reflect the same happiness. “Tomatoes.” Noctis groaned again. “But, the meat will be fried. Will that make up for it?” 

Narrowing his eyes, he glared at Ignis, then began to smile. “Yeah, that’s okay. As long as I don’t have to eat it?” 

“I’m afraid that’s a must. I always try my food when I cook for my show. You know that.” Ignis teased him. “You need to keep your mind open about vegetables. I must insist on your full cooperation.” 

“Or what? I’m banished back to the guest room?” Noctis asked. 

The light shone off of Ignis’ glasses, hiding away the look in his eyes for a split second which caused Noctis’ stomach to roll. “If you wish to test me to find out, that is your own prerogative.” 

“I won’t.” His hands began to feel clammy, as he looked down at his plate. He knew Ignis was teasing, at least - he _hoped_ he was teasing. What sort of punishment would he incur if he didn’t want to taste one of the vegetables they might make? Was he willing to find out? Not really. “What are our plans today? Besides making another video? What day is it?” 

“Monday.” Noctis nodded, as he finished his piece of toast. “I thought I would take you to one of the more opulent gardens in Tenebrae. It’s what my country is known for. Well, besides expensive berries.” He winked at Noctis, effectively making his heart stop in his chest. 

“That sounds nice. What time do they open?” 

“They opened about fifteen minutes ago, and will be open until five this evening.” Ignis grabbed their now empty plates, and carried them into the kitchen. Noctis couldn’t help but admire Ignis’ toned back muscles, his eyes glancing down so that he could appreciate how form fitting his underwear was. “If you want to take a proper shower now? Then we can head out? The weather should be nice today - a little on the cooler side than what Insomnia runs at.” 

“I brought all different kinds of clothes.” Noctis stood up, and walked into the kitchen. Since Ignis had been so forward with his good morning kiss, he thought he might test the waters himself. He stood behind him at the sink, and put his arms around his middle, then rested his cheek against his back. “Thanks for breakfast, Ignis.” 

“You are welcome.” He heard the water turn off, but Ignis didn’t turn around. He pulled away from him, then kissed his upper arm as he walked by. “Have a nice shower.” 

He walked back into the guest room, and looked around in his luggage for something to wear. Since Ignis said it would be on the cooler side, he grabbed a black long sleeve shirt that was adorned with more skulls on it, and a pair of black jeans. He wasn’t really a person that wore color a lot, and while he did pack a few items that weren’t black, his warmer items were devoid of color. 

Walking back out, he saw that Ignis was no longer in the kitchen, nor was he in the living room. A part of him thought about taking his clothes to Ignis’ room, because if they were both showering - why not conserve water. But no, he couldn’t do that. Shaking his head, he walked into the bathroom and shut the door. Dropping his clothes on the lid of the toilet seat, he turned on the water and got into the shower. 

As he showered, he thought about what had happened the night before. _I told him I masturbate and think about him. I’m an idiot_. Out of all the things to confess, that had not been the one secret he was ever going to share, but apparently his brain had thought otherwise. The touches had been nice - really nice - and he was hoping that they might have some fun later. But then it became a question of when would it happen, or would he misread a signal and go for it, only to be denied? But he knew that Ignis would never be like that. He’d play it cool, and see how things went. He flew out here to get to know him, and make content with him. He did not fly out to find out that Ignis was the love of his life. 

He dried off, and got dressed, taking the time to do a little bit of styling his hair. Brushing his teeth, he took one last look in the mirror and left the bathroom with his dirty underwear tucked under his arm. He saw Ignis was sitting on the couch with his laptop on his lap, and was typing quietly as he spoke to someone. Noctis headed into the bedroom and put his underwear with his other dirty clothes, then grabbed his socks and cell phone before heading back out to the living room. 

“Yes, I understand. No, I think that will be perfect, thank you.” Noctis took a seat at the opposite end of the couch, not wanting to bother Ignis at all. He did notice that he was wearing dark jeans like himself, and was wearing a button up white shirt with a light blue sweater. “Yes, that will be great. I’m looking forward to meeting with you in two weeks. Yes, I will. Thank you, goodbye.” 

“What was that about?” He asked, as Ignis pulled his earbuds out of his ears. “So much for some time off?” 

Ignis closed his laptop, and set his earbuds on top of it. “Well, it’s not for another two weeks, but yes. I’ve got a gig lined up that is a good opportunity for me.” 

“That’s great!” Standing up from the couch, he walked over to the foyer, and picked up his shoes. “Is it local? Or do you have to travel for it?” 

“I’m afraid I’ll have to fly.” Ignis stood near him, as he put on his shoes. “I don’t think they’ll be bothering me again this week, but in the off-chance that they do, I’ll be sure to make the conversation quick.” 

“It’s okay.” Noctis pulled his sleeves down, and held on to the fabric with his fingers. “I know your life still exists when I’m not around. Please, do whatever you need to do, especially if it’s to make some money.” 

“Ah, well - it’s not consulting work.” 

“Even better.” He grinned, as they walked to Ignis’ car together. “It sounds like things are going really well for ANR.” 

“We’ll see.” Ignis opened the door for him, but before he could get into the car he was surprised with a kiss to his lips. “You look marvelous in black.” 

Blushing, Noctis wore a small pout on his lips as he looked up at Ignis. “You look nice in blue.” He dropped down into the passenger seat, his heart hammering hard in his chest as the door closed. _Gods, what am I doing?_ He pulled his phone out of his pocket, having forgotten to check it when he grabbed it from his room. It was kind of nice, not thinking about his everyday life while he was out here in Tenebrae. 

“It should take us about a half hour, maybe forty minutes, to get to our destination.” The car turned on, the radio playing some alternative rock music. “After we visit the gardens, I thought I’d take you to a nice place downtown for lunch. Then, on our way back we’ll stop at the store and grab our ingredients to film tonight? Noct?” 

He saw a text from Prompto on his phone, and was reading it when he heard Ignis say his name. “I’m sorry?” He looked over at him, feeling slightly embarrassed. “I wasn’t listening.” 

“Am I that boring?” Ignis teased, then laughed as Noctis exhaled a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “I was going over what I thought we could do today. But since _someone_ didn’t think it was that important, we’ll just play it by ear.” 

“I’m sorry - Prompto had sent me a text, and I was reading it.” He put his phone upside down on top of his thigh. “Tell me again? Please?”

“I’m teasing, Noct.” They drove on the highway, the luscious greenery one that Noctis could stare at for hours. “Is everything okay with Prompto?” 

“In so many words.” Noctis would not be reading the text that Prompto had sent to him. “ _I HOPE YOU GOT SOME LAST NIGHT. IF NOT, STOP BEING DUMB. YOU KNOW HE LIKES YOU A LOT_.” He wasn’t going to tell Prompto of what happened, figuring he would give him grief for not taking it further. With him staying until the weekend, there was plenty of time to take things a little slower. “He just wanted to know how things were going - if I had gotten used to the time change. That sort of thing.” 

“Have you?” The closer to got to the city, the more traffic picked up but it was nowhere near the awful traffic that Insomnia had. “Gotten used to the time change?” 

He nodded his head, as he picked up his phone to take some shots of the scenery as they drove. “I woke up at a decent time this morning. I tend to really like to sleep a lot. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed my texts to you on the weekends happen a bit later than they are during the week.” 

“I did notice.” 

That comment brought happiness to Noctis. He took video of the city, then posted it as a story on Pictogram. As they drove through downtown, he looked up at the buildings in awe. The skyline wasn’t the same as Insomnia, but it did give him a sense of home as he stared up at the tall buildings. They arrived at the gardens, and it looked like there weren’t a lot of cars in the parking lot. 

He followed Ignis up to the booth to purchase their entry into the gardens, bringing his sleeves down more as a burst of cold wind hit them. It was a lot cooler than Insomnia for this time of year. Looking up, he saw Ignis had the tickets and was looking at him with a smile on his face. 

“What?” He asked, as they walked over to the entrance together. 

“I was appreciating how nice it is to have you here with me.” Ignis offered his arm to him after they gave their tickets and entered the garden. He took it, and soon they were heading to the right of the entrance. “I used to work here when I was in high school.” Ignis said, leading him towards a rose garden. 

“You didn’t work in a restaurant?” That information surprised him, considering how good his cooking is. “What made you choose this area?” 

“Well, I wasn’t paid to work here.” Roses were in bloom all around them. “I volunteered my time, as it was on the bus route from school back to my home. My best friend in high school was on the football team, and then on the baseball team in the spring.” 

Noctis looked up at him. “Really? How did you two become friends, if you weren’t into that sort of thing?” 

“He needed a tutor when we were in junior high together, and although I’m a year younger than him, I excelled in my studies so I helped him out.” They took a detour through a large garden decorated with a variety of flowers. “He moved to Insomnia with his family a year into college.” 

“That’s the person whose wedding you went to.” 

“Correct.” Ignis smiled, as they came to a small gazebo. Noctis followed him, and they took a seat on one of the benches that looked out at the gardens they had just strolled through. “What do you think of the garden so far?” 

“It’s really nice.” Noctis hadn’t been to one in years - his father used to take him to an enclosed garden when he was a child, so it felt nice to be surrounded by flowers again. 

“May I kiss you?” 

He blinked a few times, as he turned to look up at Ignis, who was looking at him. “You don’t have to ask.” 

“Well, I wasn’t sure how you’d feel if I were to do it in public.” 

Looking around, he saw no one nearby. “What public?” He laughed, tilting his head back a little. “Unless they’re in hiding?”   
  
“Touché.” 

A hand touched his face, his eyes closing as his heartbeat began to pick up again. “Just don’t kiss me for too long.” 

“Why not?” Ignis’ soft lips brushed against his with a hint of kiss. Noctis moaned softly as he tried to bring their lips back together, but Ignis pulled away before he could.

“Because I’m going to want to do things we can’t do in public.”

“Sounds like we may have to leave soon.” 

His mind shut down at the comment, as the now familiar touch of Ignis’ lips returned to his. He opened his mouth for him, their tongues rolling together with soft touches back and forth. There was no hurry with this kiss, but instead a quiet longing that began to build as Noctis reached the end of his air supply. Pulling away from the kiss, he opened his eyes and looked up at Ignis, both of them taking deep breaths. It wasn’t enough for either of them, their mouths coming together once more for another deep kiss. 

Noctis put his hand on Ignis’ chest, and gave it a little push as he pulled his mouth away again. “L-Let’s go look at some more of the garden. I don’t want to waste your money.” 

“You wouldn’t be, but yes - let’s head to the west side of the gardens.” Ignis stood up, offering his hand to Noctis. He took it, and was pulled up by him off the bench. He stumbled forward, and wound up with his face pressed against his chest, but rather than pull away, he stayed where he was as he felt Ignis put his arm around him. “Stood up too fast?” 

“Yeah.” He closed his eyes, and took in the smell of the flowers and the clean smell that was on Ignis. Getting his balance back in order, he pulled away and looked up at him with a smile. “You said we were going to go to the west side?”

They began to walk in that direction. “It’s my favorite part of the garden.” Ignis said. “Would you mind if I took some video to post?” 

“Not at all.” Noctis kept quiet as he saw Ignis take his phone out of his pocket, and began to record the gardens. Once he was done, Ignis hadn’t put his phone away, and instead kept it in his hands. “Ignis?” 

“I realized that we haven’t taken a photo together yet.” Ignis turned the phone towards them, and put the camera on front facing mode. “Smile.” 

He smiled for the picture, then turned his head to look up at him and heard another shot taken. Lifting himself up on his toes, he pressed a kiss to his cheek, and saw that Ignis had taken a picture of that too. “Will you send those to me?” He asked, as they returned to their leisurely stroll through the garden. 

“Yes, of course.” 

Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he began to take pictures of the gardens, the peaceful ambiance making him feel calm and content with life. He could see why Ignis would choose this place to volunteer his time at, as it was a nice escape from the modern world. They headed out after seeing the rest of the gardens, and Noctis was surprised to see that it was already two in the afternoon. 

“How did we spend four hours there?? Does time not exist here in Tenebrae?” He asked, as he got buckled into the car. 

Ignis’ laughter filled the car. “I’m afraid that it does exist. There was a lot to see. Are you hungry? Would you like to go eat?” 

“I’m starving.” Noctis nodded his head. “Then, we’ll drive back to your place? After we stop and get those ingredients for tonight’s shoot? Maybe we should also do something that you haven’t posted yet, so we can post that to my channel.” 

“That’s an excellent idea. We could do that tomorrow. The one I’m going to be publishing a week from this Wednesday might be a good recipe for you to make into a disaster.” 

Noctis laughed at Ignis’ comment. “I thought you said I wasn’t going to have any disasters while you were by my side.” 

“I did, but knowing you - anything is possible.” 

Lunch was at a small cafe that was closer to the edge of downtown than where they had just been. More people were milling about, with a few recognizing Ignis. Noctis couldn’t believe how personable Ignis was, and how polite he was when people approached him, even though they were eating. It seemed that he was always on, and he couldn’t help but feel a little bad for him. _Is this what popularity is like? I don’t ever want that_. 

As they drove on the highway, Noctis decided to ask him about it. “Does it get exhausting? Having to be so friendly with complete strangers that act as if they know you?” 

“It can be a little trying at times.” Ignis nodded his head. “But it’s because I’ve worked hard to get here, so it’s also rewarding. I think if I wind up moving to Insomnia, I might find it more frustrating as a lot of my viewers are from that part of the world.” 

“When will you know if you’re going to move? A few months?” It was too good to be true. He really wanted Ignis to be closer to him, but he also didn’t want him to be miserable. “Don’t make the decision on a whim. Remember - it’s very expensive to live out there.” 

“I know. I might have to share an apartment with my best friend for a bit. He’s already offered, but it is still a little nerve wracking.” 

“What’s your best friend’s name?” 

“Gladio.” Ignis chuckled, and shook his head. “I’m sorry, Noct. I thought I had mentioned his name before.” 

“It’s cool. And sounds like he’s a good person. But, didn’t you say he hates your show? Wouldn’t that make it awkward to film in his apartment?” Noctis turned to look at him. 

Ignis gave a small nod of his head. “That is another factor that is keeping me in limbo at the moment.” 

“I’d say you could come to my place, but you know how small my kitchen is. You would hate it.” Noctis leaned back against the seat, and saw they were getting off the highway. “It would be nice if we lived in the same city, though. I could show you more cool places to eat that don’t really make it on anyone’s radar.” 

“That does help sweeten the pot for me.” A hand touched his thigh, and Noctis was quick to put his hand over his. “We don’t need to think about that right now, though. You’re here to spend time with me right now.” 

“Yes, I am.” 

Grabbing the ingredients to shoot a video both tonight and tomorrow, it was a short trip back to Ignis’ apartment. Noctis went into the guest room, and after reapplying some deodorant, he changed out of the clothes he wore on their outing and put his slacks back on, and grabbed the grey button up shirt that he’d put up on a hanger to make sure it didn’t get wrinkled. This time, he grabbed a black tie that he tied around his neck, then rolled up his sleeves like he’d done the night before. 

He went back out to the living room, and saw Ignis was coming out of his bedroom at the same time. He almost took a step back into the guest bedroom when he saw what he was wearing. A dark grey button up shirt, with a white vest and black tie. Ignis looked over at him, and they both shared a smile. 

“It looks like we were on the same wavelength.” Ignis pointed to his outfit. “Should I go and change?” 

“No. You look really hot.” Noctis didn’t bother to hide his thoughts. Not after the day they’d spent together. “Not a lot of people can pull off a white vest.” 

“Can I?” 

Ignis was now directly in front of him. Looking up, he put his hands around his neck, and pulled him down towards him. “Yes.” He pushes his lips up against Ignis’, and gave him a kiss before dropping back down. “We’d better set up fast, because if we don’t start recording soon, it’s going to be very distracting for me.” 

“When you put it that way…” 

Noctis was going to ask what he meant by that when he felt Ignis’ lips back on his own, but this time the kiss was anything but chaste. Pushing his tongue more into Ignis’ mouth, he was met with the same insistence from Ignis’ tongue. He moaned into the kiss as he was pushed backwards, his arms returning to being wound around Ignis’ neck. His back hit the cushions of the couch, as Ignis laid on top of him, their kisses growing more urgent with each passing second. He could feel his arousal stiffening up with the passionate kisses they kept sharing with one another, to the point where he was going to need to unzip his pants soon. 

“Gods, I love hearing you make those noises…” Ignis spoke low near his ear, as his fingers tugged on the tie around his neck. “All day long, all I wanted to do was have you make them again for me…” 

He moaned as he felt Ignis’ hand push up against his cock, his brain becoming mush as he lifted his hips to feel more of that friction. “What else have you wanted…?” 

“This…” 

The zipper was pulled down on his slacks, and in one quick movement, Ignis’ head was now between his thighs, his lips brushing back and forth over the tip of his exposed cock. Noctis moaned loudly, as wet heat began to surround him, his pants and underwear now pushed down to his thighs. Arching his chest up, he tried to grab onto the arm of the couch, but it proved to be too awkward. Ignis’ tongue was rubbing against the underside of his cock, as his hands held Noctis’ hips down in a loose hold. He lifted them up to test how strong his grip was, and was soon pushed back down onto the couch, as the tip of his cock rubbed against the roof of Ignis’ mouth. 

“Stay put.” Ignis murmured low, as he started to kiss up and down his leaking arousal. “For now.” 

“Hhngh…” He reached down and put his hand on top of Ignis’ head, and grabbed a handful of his hair as the wet heat returned to his cock. His right leg dropped off the side of the couch, and soon Ignis went with it, forcing him to sit up as Ignis’ tongue licked up and down. He leaned forward as his cock was sucked on, Ignis’ mouth and tongue unrelenting. He gave up trying to fight not moving, and began to push his hips up, which didn’t seem to bother Ignis as he moved with his movements. “Gods, you’re going to make me come…” He moaned louder, as Ignis’ mouth created a vacuum around his cock. 

Noctis knew he was being loud, but he couldn’t control his volume, even if he wanted to. Everything felt so good, and it was the only way he could show Ignis how much he was enjoying it. He hoped that if he had neighbors, that they couldn’t hear him. He looked down at Ignis, and saw him staring up at him. He pushed his hips forward, and watched as more of his cock was swallowed by Ignis, who still had his glasses on. Reaching down, he took them off, and put them on the couch, then began to roll his hips a little more. The image of seeing his cock between those two lips - it was Noctis’ total undoing. He tossed his head back with another loud moan, and began to come. He heard Ignis swallow, which brought another deep moan from his chest, as he was sucked dry by him. 

His head hit the back of the couch, as he struggled to breathe normally. Looking down, he saw that Ignis was licking the tip of his cock, which made him whimper softly. “Too much?” Ignis asked, as their eyes locked. “Or, not enough?” 

“Too much.” He whispered, as more kisses were pressed to the tip of his oversensitive cock. “Too much…” 

“You can handle it.” Ignis returned, his own voice quiet. “It feels good when I kiss it like this, doesn’t it?” 

Another soft kiss touched right underneath the head of his cock, and then another. Noctis moaned low, as more cum began to leak from his slit. “It does…” He watched as Ignis licked it up, then licked at the slit some more. His lithe fingers touched the base of Noctis’ cock, then slid up towards the tip. “Kiss it some more…?” 

Ignis listened to his request by doing exactly that, causing Noctis to spread his legs as his slacks fell down to be around his ankles. That blankness returned to his mind, as he was swept away by the kisses that were rained down upon his cock. The sensitivity was still there, but it was no longer a hindrance. “Would you like to come again, Noct…?” 

“I want….” Noctis tried to get his words out, but Ignis began to suck on him again, causing him to stop talking. He released a deep groan, then put his hand on top of Ignis’ head. “I want to do it to you first.” 

The mouth around his cock was pulled away, then was brought up to his mouth where he kissed Ignis with an insatiable thirst. He could taste himself on his tongue, and the more his tongue touched his, the more aroused he became. They switched places, Noctis’ cock still out as he helped Ignis pull his pants down so that he could give his cock the same treatment he’d just received. 

They had touched each other the night before, but now he was seeing his cock up close and personal, and it was making him salivate. Between the musk that was hitting his nose, to the look of Ignis’ cock - it was thoroughly intoxicating. Noctis lowered his head, and wrapped his lips tight around the crown, giving it a few experimental sucks on it before pushing his lips all the way down his length. 

“Oh yes…” Ignis spoke with the same richness that had been there the night before. He responded with another soft suck on his cock, and felt a few drops of precum hit the back of his tongue. He pulled his lips back up towards the tip so that he could swallow, then began to lick at the slit in the same manner that Ignis had done to him previously. “Lick it all up, Noct…” 

He groaned as his name was said, his hand going to his own cock as he pushes his mouth back down. Ignis began to roll his hips, and with each subtle movement, Noctis followed. His hand stroked his cock, hoping that he wasn’t making a mess on the rug he was currently kneeling on. If he was, oh well. He wasn’t about to stop what he was doing to make sure Ignis’ apartment stayed pristine. To make this man come was something he’d dreamed of doing for a very long time, and now here he was - jerking himself off while he slurped on Ignis’ cock. It had to be a dream. There was no way that any of his was real. 

But then, he felt the sharp tug of fingers on the back of his scalp as his moved his mouth up and down Ignis’ cock. His hand pumped up and down as he mimicked the movements he was making on himself to Ignis’ body. The fingers in his hair pulled hard again, which brought tears to his eyes but pulled a deep moan from his throat. It was shocking to him how much he liked that. It seemed that Ignis caught on as well, as he tug hard on his hair again, which pushed Noctis closer to another orgasm. 

The warm splash of cum to the back of his throat hit seconds later, and he was soon swallowing what he could as his own release began to cover his fingers. He sucked everything down, then like Ignis had done before to him, he made sure to lick everything up before sitting back on his knees. 

“Well, then.” Noctis took his hand away from his own cock, and was about to grab something to wipe it off, when Ignis took it and brought it to his lips. “Waste not, want not.” The smirk on his lips sent a rush of blood heading back down to his limp cock, as Ignis licked up everything from his fingers. 

Shaking his head, he laughed. “Wow.” Using his now cleaned up hand to put his pants back on, Noctis moved to sit on Ignis’ lap, who had also pulled up his pants and gotten himself back in order. “How am I supposed to keep my hands off of you while we make our next video?” He asked, draping his arms over his shoulders before bringing his lips to Ignis’. He kissed him, hoping to give some of his taste back to Ignis, while the prevalent taste of himself remained on Ignis’ tongue. 

“We’ll have to be very careful.” Ignis teased, as he put his arms around his waist. “We should make the video soon, though.” 

“Why? Because you’re hungry?” 

“Because if we don’t, we’ll be skipping dinner again in favor of some more carnal delights.” 

Noctis laughed more, then got up off of his lap. “Come on. We have to do what we said we were going to do.” He grabbed both of Ignis’ hands, and pulled him up off the couch. “Then, we’ll eat our - what did you call this dish?” 

“Breaded cutlet with tomato.” 

He made a face at the mention of the tomato, but then nodded his head. “Right. Let’s make this breaded cutlet with….well, that thing.” 

“You can’t say the word?” The laugh that left Ignis’ mouth brought a smile to his own face. “You must have been awful as a child.” 

“You know it.” He held Ignis’ hand as they walked into the kitchen together. “So, you should be very happy that I’m going to be doing this recipe with you, because I would not make this one myself.” 

“Ever?” 

“Ever.” 

Lips touched his ear, as Ignis stood in front of him, pressing their chests together. “By the time you leave, you will love how vegetables taste. Because of my cooking.” 

“We’ll see.” He grinned, then looked up at him. “Aprons?” 

“Aprons.” 

He walked over to the sink, and washed his hands thoroughly, bumping his hip against Ignis who was also doing the same. “Sheesh. Give me some space, would you?” 

“You are incorrigible, Mister Night Sky Prince.” Ignis walked over to the camera on the tripod, and began to record. 

“Whatever, Mister ANR. I’ll show you. I’ll burn tonight’s dinner.” He stuck his tongue out as Ignis turned on the camera on the counter to record. “You hear that! I’m going to burn everything!” He stared into the second camera. 

His host laughed, and stood next to him. “If you burn it, you’ll still have to eat it.” 

“Can I make my tomatoes explode? So they don’t exist?” 

“Absolutely not.” 

Noctis laughed, then bumped his arm against his. “Fine, Ignis. Same as before?” 

“Same as before.” Ignis nodded, as Noctis ducked down behind the counter. 

Before Ignis could start speaking, he brought his head to where Ignis’ crotch was, the apron effectively covering it making it difficult to do much of anything. But he heard Ignis groan, and then looked up to see him glaring down at him. “What?” 

“As much fun as that would be, I’m not interested in making _that_ kind of video right now.” 

“Spoil sport.” Noctis moved back into position. “Later?” 

“Later.” Ignis nodded, then winked at him. “Ready?” 

“Let’s start!” 


	8. Fisherman's Favorite Paella

* * *

The week flew by so fast, that Noctis had a difficult time accepting the fact that it was his last day. After they’d gone to the gardens on Monday, on Tuesday and Wednesday - Ignis had shown him around downtown, where they had walked and talked for hours. Thursday and Friday, they had gone out to the country, and Ignis had taken him on a train tour that was a food adventure in its own right. Each night they filmed another collaboration together, and afterwards they would head to bed together to Ignis’ room. 

Sex had yet to happen, though. Each night, as they wound down from their adventures, they would kiss, touch each other’s bodies in a variety of ways, but they hadn’t taken it all the way. Thursday night, it had almost happened, but after a discussion between the two of them, they decided to pump the brakes and hold off on it. And while Noctis had been glad that Ignis was understanding, and that they were making this decision together, he knew if he didn’t get to experience it once before he left, it would be this lingering regret that he would have. 

As with every other morning this past week, save for his first night, Noctis woke up on Saturday close to Ignis’ body. He could hear him snoring softly, the weight of his arm around his body one he knew he was going to miss the following day when he was back home. He didn’t want to think about it, but it was difficult not to. He shifted a little, which made the soft snores disappear then he heard Ignis yawn softly. 

“Is it morning already?” Ignis asked, as the arm around him fell down towards the middle of his back. “Didn’t we just go to bed?” 

Noctis nodded his head. “It’s…” he lifted his head to look at the clock on the nightstand, “a little after eight in the morning.” 

“I suppose it is time to get up.” A soft groan escaped him as Ignis rubbed his nose against the side of his neck. “What would you like to do today, Noct?”

The words were rumbled into his ear, causing him to close his eyes as he shifted himself to be a little closer to Ignis’ body. “How about we go out for breakfast, then grab food provisions for the rest of the day, and come back here and be lazy on the couch.” 

“That sounds like exactly what I was hoping you would suggest.” Their lips came together for a soft good morning kiss. Another ritual that Noctis knew he was going to miss a lot once he flew home in the morning. “Would you like to go now?” 

He brought his arm up to wrap it around Ignis’ body, and shook his head. “Not yet.” He whispered, as he took the cue from Ignis and put his own face against the side of his neck. “Can we stay like this a little longer?” 

“We can stay like this for as long as you would like.” Ignis whispered into his ear, as his arm held Noctis a little tighter. 

_Forever?_ He knew it was not going to be possible, so he left it unsaid. Noctis kept his face against Ignis’ neck as he held on as tight as he could to him. It wasn’t close enough - it would never be close enough. Giving one more squeeze, he slowly relaxed his body and then pulled his face away from his neck. “Should we go to a new restaurant for breakfast? Well, new to me?” 

“I think that can be arranged.” They stared into each other’s eyes, their noses close to touching as neither of them made any effort to get out of bed. “There’s one near the market that I was saving to take you to.” 

“Sounds perfect, Ignis.” He smiled, then leaned forward to kiss him again on the lips. “I’ll go shower, and get ready. Half hour?” 

“Half an hour.” Ignis nodded as Noctis sat up on the bed. He stretched a little, then swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up. His boxers were hanging low on his hips, which went a little lower as he stretched more. “Quit being a tease.” 

He looked over his shoulder, and smirked. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Can’t a guy stretch?” 

“Not when it’s as indecent as that is.” Noctis bent over at the waist, and wasn’t surprised when he heard Ignis groan. “Now you’re doing it on purpose. Cheeky bastard.” 

“Again, I’m just stretch-” He stopped as a good smack to his ass caught him by surprise. Looking between his legs at Ignis, he saw a pleased look on his face. “You jerk!” 

“You deserved it.” That pleased look remained on his face. “Now, would you kindly go and take your shower so that we can go and eat? Because the longer you ‘stretch’, the more I might have to take action for it.” 

Noctis felt his mouth become dry, as he continued to look at Ignis from an upside down angle. “Is that a promise, or a threat?” 

“Are you willing to find out?” 

Lifting his head, he let the blood rush back to where it was supposed to be and began to walk towards the door. “Guess it’ll have to wait.” He glanced back at Ignis as he left the room. 

“Pity.” He heard him say, which made his cheeks heat up as he put a little saunter into his step knowing full well that Ignis was still watching him. 

The desire to go back into that bedroom, and jump Ignis’ bones was as strong as it had been all week, but like he’d been doing, he held off on it. Instead, he walked into the guest room to get clean clothes for the day and then went to the guest bathroom to take another cold shower. Cold showers were the only thing that would set him back into the right state of mind after leaving Ignis’ bedroom in the morning. It woke him up, and it took away that sting of wanting to do more. 

Dressed in a shirt and jeans, Noctis put on a pair of black socks then walked out to the living room. He saw Ignis was waiting for him, sitting on the couch looking as handsome as ever. His host was dressed in a pair of light blue jeans, and a black v-neck tee shirt. “Trying to be like me?” He commented, as he walked over to where Ignis was sitting. 

“You do tend to wear a lot of black.” Ignis didn’t deny it, which made Noctis invariably happy. “Any particular reason why?” 

“It takes less effort to wear black.” Noctis walked over to where Ignis was sitting, and offered him his hands. “Come on, I’m hungry.” 

“So demanding.” He grabbed onto Ignis’ hands, and pulled him up from the couch. “Have you already reached the hangry stage? We’ve only been awake for a little bit.” 

He dropped his hands in order to put his shoes on. “I’m hungry, but I’m also looking forward to coming back here.” 

“Ah, I see.” Ignis adjusted his glasses, after they both became situated. “Then, we should hurry. We don’t want to waste any time today, do we?” 

Noctis nodded his head. “Right.” 

Neither of them mentioned that it was his last day, which Noctis was grateful for. He wished he could change his ticket to stay another week, but he knew that would cost an exorbitant amount of money. How was he supposed to know that they were going to have so much fun together? Two weeks felt like a really long time, but now it felt like a week went by faster than a normal day at home would go. There was no use in thinking like that, though, so he would just have to accept the fact that this was his last day getting to spend time with Ignis. 

The restaurant they chose to go to for breakfast had an hour wait, which neither of them minded. Noctis kept close to Ignis, as they sat outside and waited for their name to be called. When they sat down, Noctis looked across at Ignis, who quickly looked away. Smiling, he looked down at his menu, and saw what he wanted to order. 

“Do you have plans tomorrow?” Noctis asked, after they ordered their food. “I mean, besides taking me to the airport?” 

“I’ve got quite a bit of editing to do.” Ignis chuckled. “So, I might do some of that. I will need to get a majority of it done this week, as I’m flying out on Friday for work.” 

“Right.” He’d forgotten about the conversation he’d walked in on earlier in the week. “You don’t have to travel far for this opportunity, do you?” 

“No.” Again, Ignis looked away from him. Huh. _That’s weird_. “I’ll be on that trip for a week, which is why I’m trying to get as much content ready to post before then. After that, I’m not sure what my schedule will be like.” 

“That’ll be fun though.” Noctis could feel his stomach twist in a somewhat painful manner. “Are you traveling with friends? Like you did when you went to Altissia?” 

“Yes and no.” 

Not wanting to pry too much into it, he nodded his head. “Sounds like you’ll have a good time. Guess I’ll see on Warkker and Picotgram, huh?” 

“Indeed.” 

Their food showed up a little later, the two of them moving on to a different topic all together. At the end of their meal, Noctis grabbed the check. “Since I know we’re going to be making dinner tonight, and we won’t have time to grab a meal like this in the morning, please let me pay for this.” 

“I won’t argue.” Ignis reached over, and touched his hand. “Thank you.” 

“You’re welcome. Really, it’s the least I can do. You’ve been so nice to me this past week.” He put some gil into the folio, and then set his napkin on the table. “Want to go to the market now?” 

Ignis nodded, and offered his hand to him. He took it, and they walked out of the restaurant together holding hands. They didn’t stop holding hands until they got to the car, and as soon as they got buckled in, they returned to holding hands as Ignis drove them down the street to the market. Noctis now knew the layout of this market better than he knew the convenience store near his apartment, having visited it quite a few times over the last week. 

They picked up items to make dinner, and Ignis grabbed some ingredients to make a dessert for them. Noctis grabbed a few local bags of chips that he knew he could pack in his suitcase, figuring that would be a cool present to give to Prompto when he saw him tomorrow. Once everything was paid for, they headed back to the car and then drove back to Ignis’ apartment. 

“I vote for putting pajamas on now.” Noctis said, after they had put all of their groceries away. “Do you object?” 

“Not at all.” The smile on Ignis’ face caused Noctis’ stomach to roll. “We’ll meet back out here? Want to pick out something to watch?” 

“Yes.” He nodded, then pecked a quick kiss to Ignis’ cheek before he went back to the guest bedroom. He packed away the chips he’d grabbed, and then grabbed his black lounge pants. Changing out of his jeans, he put those on and took off his socks. Looking at the clock, he saw that it was close to one in the afternoon. _No. Slow down_. Time was moving too fast again. 

Getting set up on the couch, Noctis turned the television on and brought up Mogflix. Scrolling through his options, he heard a door creak open, and saw Ignis walk out wearing green and brown plaid lounge pants. “You haven’t picked something yet?” He asked, as he came over and sat down next to Noctis on the couch. “Give me that remote.” 

“I have no idea what I want to watch.” Doing as Ignis asked, he gave him the remote then sat back on the couch. “You pick something.” 

“I think this will do.” Ignis chose a movie that Noctis had never heard of, then put the remote on the coffee table. 

Noctis sat next to him, linking his arm through Ignis’ before grabbing his hand to hold as the movie started to play. Resting his head on Ignis’ shoulder, he thought about how much stuff they had done together over the last week, and how much fun he had with him. A soft kiss to his temple had him raising his head to look up at Ignis with a somewhat sad expression on his face. 

“What’s wrong?” 

Fingers touched his cheek, as Noctis became lost in Ignis’ green eyes. “I wish I didn’t have to go tomorrow.” He said it out loud, because there was no use denying it any longer. “I wish that time wasn’t moving as fast as it is, because I’m not ready to be alone again.” 

“I understand.” The gentle motion which Ignis continued touching his cheek had Noctis’ eyelids fluttering closed. “I’m not ready for you to leave either. But we shouldn’t think about that now. We still have a lot left of the day.” 

Turning his body, Noctis ignored the movie completely as he moved to sit on Ignis’ lap, his back turned towards the television. “You knew we weren’t going to watch a movie, right?” He asked, as he put his arms around Ignis’ neck. 

“I was hoping not to.” A smirk was on his lips, as his hands moved to be under Noctis’ shirt so that he could touch his hips. “What I was hoping for….well, the couch might not be the best area for it.” 

A sharp inhale caused him to gasp softly, as Ignis pulled him to be closer to his body. “What are you suggesting, Ignis?” 

“I think we’ve both been very patient, but one of us has to take the next step.” 

Slipping off of his lap, Noctis began to walk towards Ignis’ bedroom, while keeping his eyes on him. “But you’re still sitting on the couch.” He teased, as he pulled the shirt he was wearing up over his head. But before he could get it all the way off, he felt a pair of hands hold onto his wrists, and was soon being kissed by a demanding mouth. He moaned into the kiss, as Ignis guided him into the bedroom, his shirt staying right where it was, the collar resting right against the bridge of his nose. 

“Do you have a preference?” Ignis murmured into his ear, as he was pushed down onto the bed. Noctis moaned, as he was kissed hard on the lips again before Ignis’ lips returned to touch the shell of his ear. “Or are you a man that likes to go both ways?” 

He knew what he was asking, groaning low at the forward way of finding out what he preferred. “B-Both, but Gods I want to know what you feel like in me…” 

“You mean besides that little tease I gave to you the day before yesterday?” 

The night that they had almost had sex, they had been frotting against each other, and without thinking about it, Noctis had rolled over to be on his hands and knees. Ignis had moved with him, and had teased his entrance with the tip of his cock, but never fully entered him. The teasing had been enough to get Noctis on board with it, but then Ignis pulled away and they had decided together that it wasn’t the right time. But now it was. 

Noctis nodded his head fast, as the shirt continued to stay in its place, keeping him guessing as to where Ignis was. “Take off my clothes…” 

“You won’t be putting them back on.” 

Moaning low, Noctis gave another nod of his head. “I think that sounds like a great idea.” 

“I’m glad you agree.” The hands holding his arms up disappeared, but he didn’t bother to finish taking off his shirt. Lifting his hips up, he felt both his pants and underwear being pulled off of his legs, his cock already standing at full attention. “Someone’s ready.” Ignis’ voice next to his ear shocked him, not expecting it at all. 

“I’ve been ready since we woke up this morning.” 

His shirt was pulled off, and he saw that Ignis was as naked as he was. “Why did we go out to breakfast?” 

“Because I didn’t want to seem like a complete sex crazed maniac?” A bottle of lube, and a condom were in Ignis’ hand. “I see now that that might have been a mistake.” 

“Are you afraid of coming too fast?” Ignis teased, as he poured a little lube onto his fingers. Noctis nodded his head, as he spread his legs open for him. “Don’t be.” 

“Easy for you to say.” 

“Why? Because you normally pleasure yourself to thoughts of me on a daily basis?” 

Closing his eyes, Noctis gave another quick nod of his head. “Don’t hate me.” 

“Oh, I could never hate you. In fact, I feel the quite opposite for you.” One wet finger began to touch his entrance. “Now darling, you’ve got to relax for me…” 

“D-Don’t say it like that…” He blushed, as the finger teasing him began to go inside of him. “I won’t ever be able to watch your videos without thinking about right now…” 

Ignis brushed his lips against his with a hint of a kiss as his finger went a little bit further. “How is that a problem? Or is it because it’s not a special endearment?” The tip of Ignis’ finger was pulled out, and began to rub around the opening.

“You call everyone darling.” Noctis moaned, as two fingers began to push inside of his body. “Please, call me something else…” 

“What if I called you…” A kiss to his neck made the hairs on Noctis’ arms stand on end. “My Prince…?” 

His heart leapt at the endearment. Knowing that Ignis was using his social media handle, Noctis nodded his head, as he felt those two fingers worm their way into his body more. “I like that. I like that a lot.” 

“Do you, my Prince…?” Ignis’ lips returned to his, as they began to kiss each other with more meaningful kisses. The kisses were a good distraction, as he concentrated more on what his mouth was doing with Ignis’, rather than what the two fingers inside of his body were doing to him. “I think it has a wonderful ring to it…” 

“What would that make you…?” His voice was breathless, as a third finger was pushed into is body. 

“Your loyal servant.” 

He moaned as Ignis’ tongue entered his mouth, and the three fingers inside of his body began to pump in and out of him at a slow pace. Pushing his hips down, those three fingers turned him into a total mess. He broke off the kiss with a deep moan. “Make me come, Ignis…” He begged, as he knew he wasn’t going to last for much longer. 

“Yes, Your Highness…” 

Two fingers pushed right up against his prostate, which caused white to bleed behind his closed eyes. His ears began to ring as it happened again and again, his body quivering from the unprecedented touches. The final blow came as Ignis’ lips covered the tip of his cock, and gave a good hard suck on him. He screamed in pleasure, as the physical manifestation of his orgasm was swallowed by Ignis, the three fingers inside of him making him feel unbelievably full. 

Shaking from how intense his orgasm had been, Noctis looked down at Ignis, who was kissing the tip of his cock over and over. “G-Get the condom on…” 

“Right.” 

Noctis grunted as the three fingers were pulled out of his body, shaking him to his core at how empty he now felt with them gone. He heard the wrapper tear, and then looked down to watch as Ignis rolled it down onto his cock. Ignis looked at him with a smile on his lips. “What?” He asked, as Ignis moved to be between his legs. 

“I love the way you look right now.” Ignis replied, as the tip of his cock began to push up against his loosened entrance. “You look gorgeous, Noctis.” 

He tried not to blush, but it was difficult not to. Not after being hit by that comment that made him feel exactly like that. “You say that to all the people you take to bed.” 

“I’m afraid not.” The tip was gently pushed into him. Noctis looked up, and stared into Ignis’ eyes. “You’re the only person I’ve ever said such a horribly cheesy thing to.” 

“I hope that I’ll stay the only one.” 

“I have no doubt that you will, my sweet Prince.” Ignis’ endearment for him had him closing his eyes with a pleased sigh. “Open your eyes…” 

Green filled his vision, as Ignis slowly pushed his cock into his body. Noctis moaned as his inner walls were stretched to their limit, the moan turning into a soft gasp as Ignis gave a little thrust forward. He kept staring up at him as more of Ignis’ cock made its way further in, but as soon as it was all the way, his eyes shut and he exhaled a deep moan. 

“Does it feel good, Your Highness…?” 

The words were whispered softly into his ear, Ignis’ chest now pressed against his. Noctis brought one leg up, and wrapped it around his waist before pushing his hips down to feel more of him. “It feels….so good….” He moaned, nodding his head as he wrapped his arm around Ignis’ neck. “Gods, you feel so good inside of me….” 

“It’s like we were made for one another…” 

He nodded his head, as their lips came together for a kiss that spoke more than words could. Noctis became lost in the kiss, as the lower halves of their bodies provided a pleasure that could only be achieved with this level of intimacy. Keeping Ignis close to his body, his cock received enough attention as it was trapped between their bodies. With every thrust of Ignis’ hips, he met with his own being pushed down, the friction against their stomachs bringing little squirts of precum out of the tip of his cock. 

Tilting his head back, he stared up at Ignis as both of them began to breathe a little heavier. “Ig...nis…” He moaned his name, as he felt the heat begin to build in the lower half of his body. 

“Come again for me, my beautiful Prince…” Ignis murmured low, as he snapped his hips hard. 

His second orgasm took complete control over his body, as heat rushed through him from his head to his toes. His prostate was hit over and over, pushing him into the realm of delirium as his orgasm seemed to have no end in sight. He felt Ignis thrust hard into him, and then the deep moan that reached his ear was enough to tell him that Ignis had found his own release. His stomach was a sticky mess, but he didn’t care. All that mattered was that they had shared that moment together. 

Ignis pulled out, then kissed him softly as an apology at the sense of loss. Noctis panted softly, as he watched his lover walk into the bathroom. He rolled onto his back, and stared up at the ceiling, vaguely aware of his extremities. He had had sex before, but never something as powerful as what he’d just shared with Ignis. Why did he have to find such a meaningful connection with someone that literally lived across the world from him? 

He draped his arm over his head, as his chest began to rise and fall at a more even pace. “Is everything alright?” He heard Ignis’ voice before he felt the bed dip a little with his returned weight.

“Everything is perfect.” Noctis dropped his arm, so that he could look at Ignis properly. He saw that his glasses were back on now, which made him smile. “Has anyone told you that the post-coitus look suits you?” 

A tissue was moved across his torso, as Ignis cleaned up his mess for him. “I don’t think so.” The blush on Ignis’ cheeks made his smile grow. “You look good thoroughly shagged yourself.” 

“Want to go and finish that movie now?” He asked, after a tissue was used to wipe up any lube that had stuck to his skin down below. “Or did we forget to turn it off?” 

“I think we might have forgotten to turn it off, but I don’t think either of us were really paying much attention to it.” 

Noctis laughed, and shook his head. “No, I don’t think we were.” Ignis laid over him, the two of them coming together for another kiss. “Grab a blanket? I don’t want to get your couch messy.”    


“But a blanket is fine?” The teasing tone Ignis brought another laugh out of him. “I see how it is.” 

“Fine, I’ll put my underwear back on.” 

“We said no clothes until tomorrow morning.” 

“Yes, but if I can’t stain a blanket, then what can I stain?” 

Lips touched his with another kiss. “You can stain a blanket. I think I know what movie I want us to not pay attention to next.” 

“You make it sound so inviting.” Ignis gave him his hand, and the two of them walked back out to his living room, both without a stitch of clothing on. “This might be dangerous.” Noctis said, as the blanket was laid down on the couch for the both of them to sit on.

“Why do you think that?” Grabbing the remote, Noctis handed it to Ignis since he had an idea for a movie in mind. 

He glanced down at his lover’s flaccid arousal, then looked back up. “What if we want to have some more fun? Are you hiding condoms somewhere that I can’t see? And lube?” 

“No, but I’d be more than happy to go and grab some, if that will make you feel a little safer.” 

He nodded, as he saw a smirk appear on Ignis’ face. “Yes, please. We might not use them, though.” 

“If I’m bringing them out here, we bloody well better.” 

“Got it!” Noctis laughed more as Ignis walked back into the bedroom. 

Dropping the items onto the coffee table, Ignis sat back down next to him on the couch, and put on a movie. He moved so that he could rest his head on Ignis’ thigh, his feet now resting on the arm of the couch. As the movie played, he became less interested in it, and more interested in being intimate again with Ignis. With his head so close to the prize, he turned it slightly and brought his lips to the tip of his cock. It was at that point that they both realized that maybe leaving the bedroom hadn’t been the best idea, but it was too late to go back there now. Not when Noctis had a mouthful of Ignis’ cock, and wasn’t about to take it away for anything. 

“Gods, your mouth is sinfully wicked, Noct…” The richness in Ignis’ voice brought total satisfaction to him as he moved his mouth up and down his cock. He released a weak cry as Ignis’ hand touched his cock, his mouth slipping back down to the base. His mind went blank as he focused solely on bringing pleasure to Ignis, and from the way he kept moaning, he knew he was on the right track. 

His own cock dripped onto the blanket, as Ignis’ hand slid up and down his stiff flesh. He moved his head to a different angle, and soon was taking Ignis’ cock all the way down his throat. It only took a few times of deep throating him before hot liquid began to pour down his throat. Every time he performed this act on him, it always brought a sense of accomplishment. His own orgasm happened a few moments later, as Ignis knew exactly what to do to get him right over the edge. The tip of his thumb rubbed against the tip of Noctis’ cock, and with that little touch, he was coming with a deep groan, his mouth still full of Ignis’ semi-flaccid arousal. 

Sitting back on the couch, he was soon pushed to lay on his back as Ignis’ mouth covered his with a needy kiss. His essence was clinging to Noctis’ palette, which he gave back to the man he’d just taken it from with rough strokes of his tongue. Another condom was quickly rolled on to Ignis’ cock, Noctis doing the honors this time, and then it was back inside of him. The couch wasn’t nearly as comfortable as the bed was, but there was a quiet intensity with this round of sex that hadn’t been there before. Now it was more or less the physical need to be connected with one another again, as they’ve both had a taste and now want it more.

By the time the sun was setting, they had had one more round of sex, and shared an awful lot of kisses. Noctis pulled Ignis into the bathroom, and the two of them had shared their first shower together. Showering had taken close to an hour, as they both became distracted by each other’s bodies to really get clean. Drying off took almost as long, as they kept being handsy with one another but never quite letting it get to the stage where they had to follow through with their touches. 

“Want me to devein these?” Noctis asked, as he helped Ignis in the kitchen. They had bought a whole bunch of prawns at the seafood counter, as well as squid, clams and mussels. “What are we making again?” 

“Paella.” Ignis was already cooking the base. “And yes, there are vegetables in it. Suffer for our last meal, please. This happens to be one of my favorite dishes to cook.” 

He wore a fake pout, then kissed Ignis’ shoulder. “I’ll eat anything for you, Ignis. Even if it’s green.” 

“I appreciate that, Your Highness.” He grinned at the comment, then moved to the other side of the counter to watch him as if he was cooking for him personally. Which he was. Once it was all finished, Ignis set it to rest on the counter and then covered it with a cloth. “Now, we wait another twenty minutes. Would you care for some wine?”

“Wine would be good.” Noctis nodded, and walked back into the kitchen to grab some wine glasses, while Ignis brought out a bottle of dry white wine. “But I don’t want to get drunk.” 

“But you were so cute drunk the other night.” Ignis poured wine into both of their glasses, and then put the bottle back into the fridge. “To a wonderful week.” 

“To a week I know I’ll never forget.” 

“You won’t be able to. I’ll be posting our stuff in a few weeks.” 

He tapped his glass against Ignis’. “You know what I mean.” 

“I do.” 

After they ate and cleaned up the kitchen, they returned to the couch and put on another movie that this time they watched, as their food needed to digest before doing any sort of physical activity. The video that Ignis had queued earlier in the week was posted, and Noctis made sure to type his response as soon as he got the alert, with Ignis looking over his shoulder. 

“You know, I was wondering…” He asked, as he hit enter on his comment. He’d watched Ignis put the final touches on it on Thursday, so he knew what it was without having to watch the video. 

“What’s that?” 

“You said you watch my channel? What’s your handle?” 

The blush that appeared on Ignis’ cheeks made butterflies appear in his stomach. “My personal handle is ‘MrSpecs15’.” 

“That’s YOU?!” Noctis turned and stared at Ignis, who still had a bright blush on his face. “You’re Specs?!” 

“Ah, so you know who I am.” A nervous chuckle left his mouth. “I told you, I subscribe to your channel, and leave comments.” 

“I know! I know your comments!” He couldn’t believe that the person who always left the nicest comments on his lame videos was the person responsible for him making them in the first place. “I can’t believe you’re Specs.” He shook his head. “Can I tell Prompto? Or is this a secret that I have to keep?”

Ignis looked at him with a small smile on his lips. “Go ahead and tell him. But he has to keep it a secret.” 

“He will, don’t worry.” Noctis put his phone on the table, and then turned to look at Ignis. “Specs. That’s a fun name. And it makes total sense.” 

“As does yours, my Prince.” 

Noctis felt his heart swell in his chest. “You want to watch another movie?” 

“It’s getting late. We should probably go to bed.” 

It was true - they were going to have to leave at five in the morning, as Noctis’ flight left at nine in the morning. “Let me finish packing, and then I’ll come to your room.” 

“You had better.” 

He walked into the guest bedroom, and got his suitcase ready to go for tomorrow. The clothes he planned to wear home were sitting on the bed, while the rest were packed in his suitcase. His toiletries he would pack last, as he needed to take a shower in the morning to wake up. He left the room, and walked over to Ignis’ bedroom. When he saw Ignis was waiting for him, looking as tempting as ever, he knew that he wasn’t going to be getting any sleep. 

By the time the alarm went off, they had had sex another three times. In between rounds, they shared personal stories with one another, Noctis falling for Ignis more and more. They showered together, but this time the shower was clinical and precise. They didn’t have the luxury of wasting time this morning - not when the clock was ticking, bringing them closer to the time where they had to leave for the airport. 

Ignis parked the car, and carried his suitcase into the airport for him. The ride over had been silent, Noctis holding tight to Ignis’ hand the entire way. He kept blinking back tears throughout the duration of the ride, hating the fact that he was going home. He hung his head as he clung to Ignis’ hand as they waited for his bag to be weighed and taken to be put on the flight. Once it was gone, they made their way to the area where Noctis was going to have to go alone. 

He threw his arms around his neck, and clung tight to him as the tears began to fall. “Please move to Insomnia soon.” He whispered, crying softly as he held onto Ignis for dear life. “I think you’ve ruined me.” 

“I’ll do my best.” Ignis’ forehead touched his, as they stayed close to one another. “Trust me, this pain that you’re feeling right now? Right here?” Ignis touched his chest. “Mine hurts equally as much, my sweet Prince. This past week was so much fun. I’m so glad you were able to spend time with me.” 

“I want to spend more time with you.” He sniffled, then brushed his lips against his with a whisper of a kiss. “I should have told you two weeks.” 

“We’ll see each other again soon.” A hand touched his face, the tips of Ignis’ fingers wiping away the tears that didn’t seem to stop falling from his eyes. “I promise.” 

“Tomorrow?” Noctis asked, knowing it wouldn’t be possible. 

“Soon.” 

He clung to him until it was time for him to go. “I love you.” He whispered into Ignis’ ear, clinging hard to him. “I’m sorry if it’s too soon to say that, but I-” 

“I love you too.” Ignis returned, his words whispered into Noctis’ ear. “Sometimes you know only moments after meeting someone. I’ll fly you out here at the end of your school semester, okay? Something we can both look forward to.” 

Noctis nodded his head fast. “Yes, that would be great. That’s only a couple of months away. I can handle that. Okay.” He looked at the clock, and felt more tears start to leave his eyes. “I have to go, Ignis. I don’t want to.” 

“I know you don’t.” Two hands touched his face, as he looked up into Ignis’ eyes. “I don’t want you to go either. But you must.” Their lips came together for a passionate kiss, which left Noctis’ breathless. “Go, before I keep you here with me.” Ignis pressed his forehead against his again. “I love you, Noctis. We’ll see each other soon.” 

“I love you too.” 

He tried not to sob, but it couldn’t be helped. One more kiss, then he tore himself away from Ignis and made his way to the security line. He didn’t turn back until he was lined up, and saw Ignis was standing in the same spot with tears running down his face. He held up his hand and gave a small wave. He moved forward, and when he turned around, he could no longer see the terminal. 

Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he began to text the man he’d just left. “ _This was such a wonderful trip. Thank you, Ignis. I’ll text you when I get home. I want to keep texting you, but it hurts right now_.” 

“ _I know. Trust me, I know. Please have a safe flight. Try and get some sleep, since we didn’t get any at all. ;) I love you, Noct_.” 

The tears began to flow again as he read his text. “ _I love you too. Talk to you in a few hours_.” He turned his phone off, then headed through the security checkpoint, feeling utterly miserable. As he walked, he could feel his body ache for all the right reasons, which brought a smile to his face. But then, the realization that he might not see Ignis again for a couple of months made that sadness return. 

His flight was uneventful. Unlike his first flight, this flight he spent most of it asleep. It was easier to sleep and shut down, than it was to be awake and think about how much he missed Ignis. His flight landed a half hour earlier than planned, but that extra half hour was taken up by the line at immigration. As he waited, he turned his phone back on and saw that he had a message waiting for him from Ignis. It brought on more tears, Noctis weeping silently as he read it over again. 

“ _This past week was more fun than I imagined it could have been. Now you’re back home, and I’m left with the smell of you everywhere. You looked good in my apartment, and in my bed. You will never know how much I adore you. Don’t be sad. Be happy that we’ve found each other. We’ll see each other soon. I love you, Noctis Caelum_.” 

He began to type a response. “ _Yes, we did find each other. I made it back safely. Now I’m going to go and eat and drink until I pass out. I love you too. Talk to you soon_.” He put his phone back in his pocket, and waited for his turn.

Noctis walked out to the terminal, and saw Prompto was waiting for him, a bright cheerful smile on his face. “Noct!!” Prompto ran up to him, and hugged him tight. “Oh no! What’s wrong??” 

“I fell in love.” He clung tight to his best friend, as he began to cry again. 

They hugged each other, then Prompto stepped back from him. “Let’s go back to your place, and you can tell me all about it, okay? We’ll stop and get some Kenny Crows, then we’ll day drink at your place. Sound good?” 

“Sounds great.” He nodded his head. As nice as it was to be back in Insomnia, he really wished he was back in Tenebrae with Ignis. _Two months. I’ll see him in two months_. With that thought, he followed Prompto to his car, and tried to make the best of it. It was the only thing he could do for now. 


	9. Mother and Child Rice Bowl

* * *

Returning home to Insomnia meant that life returned to normal for Noctis. Well, as normal as it could after confessing his love to the man who was thousands of miles away from him. With another week off of school, he spent most of his days moping around and would watch episodes of ‘A New Recipe’ in order to hear his lover’s voice, and see his smile. Yes, they sent texts back and forth and it was nice, but he wanted more. 

On Wednesday, Ignis released an episode of his show that Noctis had helped him edit while he’d been out there. He knew that he would know what the next few episodes would be because of his visit to Tenebrae. This episode was another one in Gralea, where Ignis was cooking a marrowshroom chowder that he’d had to eat at a fine dining restaurant. As soon as Noctis watched it, he began to type a comment for Ignis. 

“ _You look like you’re having so much fun! I bet it’s cold in Gralea. Hearty soups must be plentiful over there! Thanks for sharing! :-)_ ” Hitting enter, he watched as his comment populated, then saw a like appear with ‘ANR’’s avatar next to the heart. He counted in his head until five, and once he got the number four his phone began to buzz. 

He answered the call without looking at who was calling him because he knew who it would be. “It’s a good thing you didn’t make this last week when I was visiting you, because we both know I never would have eaten it.” 

“That must mean that you won’t be recreating this recipe, will you?” The sound of Ignis’ voice brought a large smile to his face, as he flopped down on the couch. “Here I was hoping to see you slice mushrooms, and watch you slow cook the soup.” 

Holding the phone against his ear, Noctis laughed. “Oh, come on. You know that I would mess it up horribly.” 

“Which is exactly why I think you should do it. The mushrooms won’t cost an arm and a leg at the grocery store.” He turned onto his side, and stretched out a little more. “How are you, my Prince? Are you doing alright?” 

Noctis closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. “You should know the answer to that question already, Ignis.” 

“School starts on Monday, yes? So that will be a nice distraction from the horrible pain of right now.” 

They had both gone over how miserable the other had felt in a text exchange on Monday, and had left it at that. Their last phone call, they hadn’t spoken about it, but now it was rearing its ugly head again. “I know. And it’s only a couple of months until the end of the semester. That is so far away from right now.” 

“Only sixty-eight days. But who's counting?” The somewhat bitter laugh that came through the receiver made Noctis bite his lip. Neither spoke for a few minutes, both reveling in the silence together. “Ah, right.” Ignis’ voice returned to a happier tone than it had been before. “Would you mind texting me your address? I have something I would like to send to you.” 

“Yeah, give me a second.” He held his phone up, and typed in his address. “Did I leave something behind at your place? I thought I had grabbed everything. I can pay for shipping, if you want.” 

“You will not.” Ignis shot down his offer, which he expected to happen. “And no, you didn’t forget anything. I made sure to do a thorough check of the guest room, the bathroom, and my room.” 

“Did you want me to leave something behind?” Noctis asked, closing his eyes again as he rolled back onto his side. 

“Besides yourself?” 

The physical ache returned to his chest, as he closed his eyes a little tighter. “Trust me, I’m regretting not being there with you for another week. The pain might be exponentially worse, though.” 

“I know what you mean.” The two shared a soft sigh together. 

Silence returned, but it was enough for Noctis. “You’re going to be off the grid this weekend, yes?” He asked, remembering that Ignis had said he was going to be on a business trip soon. “Or was that next week?” 

“I leave on Friday.” Noctis rolled onto his back, and stared up at his ceiling. “I’ll be gone for a week, and will probably be busy from sunrise until sundown.” 

He nodded his head. “Right. Okay. I can handle not talking to you for a full week. I went for months not talking to you.” A strained laugh left his throat. 

“If I can find the time, I’ll do my best to call you. But it might be two in the morning your time, or when you’re in class.” 

“If you call when I’m in class, I obviously can’t answer but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t mind hearing your voice.” Rolling over onto his stomach, he brought his arm up to rest his head, and the phone on it. “As for you calling me at two in the morning, you know I don’t care if you wake me up.” 

The soft laugh that came through the receiver brought a smile to his lips. “I know. And I’m the same. It will only be for a week. Afterwards, we’ll go back to our normal schedule.” 

“I swear, I’m not normally this needy of a lover.” 

“It doesn’t bother me in the slightest, my sweet Prince.” 

“You have to go now, don’t you?” 

“I’m afraid I do.” The regret he heard in Ignis’ voice was the same that he felt in his own stomach. “I’ve got a lot to do before I leave on Friday. Are you at least having a good break at home?” 

“I think Prompto is ready to kill me. ‘Stop moping!’ is a phrase I’ve been hearing a lot this week.” He chuckled at his own lameness. “It’s getting easier, though.” 

“Good. You two should have some fun.” 

“Oh! I forgot to tell you!” He sat up, and kept the phone pressed against his ear. “Prompto met someone.” 

“Did he? A beautiful lady? Or a handsome gentleman?” 

Noctis chuckled. “It’s a dude. I haven’t met him yet, though. Seems like a really nice guy. They met at a restaurant. I guess this dude came up to him when he saw him eating alone, and offered to join him. And then they spent the rest of the week together. He’s with him right now.” 

“Does this fine gentleman have a name?” 

He groaned as he leaned his head back. “Yes, but I’m awful with names. I can’t remember it right now. Whatever, it’s okay. I guess I’m going to be meeting him tomorrow? We’re supposed to meet for dinner. Prompto is super excited about it.” 

“You’ll have to tell me all about it.” 

“It’ll have to wait, though. Because you’ll be getting ready for your trip.” 

“Right.” He heard Ignis release an annoyed sigh. “Well, hopefully this isn’t a fling for your best friend.” 

“It’s not. I haven’t seen him this happy in a long time. But yes, I’ll give you a full report the next time we can talk.” Noctis looked at the blank television screen. “Okay, I’m sorry - I don’t mean to keep you. Go and do what you need to do.” 

“We’ll talk again soon. Have a good rest of your day, Noctis.” 

“You too. I love you.” 

“I love you more.” The words rang in his ear as the call ended. He set his phone down, and heard Ignis’ voice in his head repeating that last phrase again. One day he would argue with him that there was no possible way he could have more feelings than him, when his feelings were pretty high for Ignis. 

Looking down at his phone, he decided to watch the video one more time before figuring out what he was going to do for the rest of the day. 

***

Prompto clung to his arm as they walked down the street. “You have to be nice, okay? I really like this guy a lot.” 

“You’ve known him for what? A week? A week and a half?” Noctis said, as he looked at his best friend. “How well do you know this guy?” 

“Well enough. Please, Noct. Don’t give him crap. You’ll like him.” 

“You sound super confident about that.” He rolled his eyes. “I’m going to be on my best behavior, okay?” 

“Good, because I sort of invited him to hang out with us tomorrow night at your place.” 

He stopped walking. “That was rather presumptuous of you. I told you that tomorrow is when Ignis is going dark on me. I was hoping we could hang out, stay up all night, and play video games.” 

“You give me crap for liking this guy as much as I do, and yet you barely knew Ignis and flew out to spend the week with him.” Prompto crossed his arms over his chest. “I didn’t say anything about that, did I? I supported you.” 

It was a valid argument. One he knew he couldn’t deny. “You’re right. I’m sorry - I’m sure he’s a great person, and even if I don’t like him, he’s still welcome to come and spend time with us tomorrow. But no being lovey-dovey in front of me.” 

“Deal!” 

They headed to the designated restaurant, and saw that there was quite a bit of a wait for a Thursday night. Having no idea what this person looked like, he waited for Prompto to look around the restaurant to see if they were already there. “Do we need to put our names in?” He asked Prompto, who was still looking. 

“Nope! He’s over there!” Prompto began to wave at someone, then began walking towards where they were, leaving Noctis behind. 

Pushing his hands into his jacket pockets, he followed him through the crowded dining room and saw a man who didn’t look at _all_ what Noctis thought he would look like. This guy had long brown hair, and wore it half up in a ponytail. But that wasn’t his most striking feature. No, the two very large scars on his face were; one ran down the length of his face on the left side, while the other ran right across his forehead. To say he was jacked with muscles wouldn’t have been an incorrect statement - the guy was massive. And when he stood up to greet them, Noctis felt very small. 

“Hey! I’m Gladio. Nice to meet you.” Noctis looked at the hand that was extended out to him, and saw a rather detailed tattoo on his arm. “Prom has told me a lot about you.” 

He took his hand, and gave it a shake. “He talks a lot about you too.” He then watched as his best friend and this man share a kiss and a quick hug. “It’s nice to meet you, Gladio.” 

“It’s great to meet you, Noctis.” Gladio looked at Prompto, who was all smiles as Gladio pulled out a chair for him to sit down. “This guy tell you how we met?” 

“He did.” Pulling his own chair out, he took a seat. “And you guys have been inseparable since, as I understand it.” 

Prompto shot him a look. “We’re having fun while we can, before classes start again.” 

“I’m not trying to encroach or anything.” Noctis looked over at Gladio, who was holding his hands up. “Have you guys wanted to hang out, and haven’t because of me?” 

“No!” 

Noctis shook his head. “No, it hasn’t been an issue. I’m sorry - I didn’t mean to give you the wrong idea.” He thought about Ignis, and how he might treat a situation like this. “So, did Prompto tell you what we like to do on Friday nights, since I heard he invited you to join us?”

“Is that cool?” He nodded his head, as Gladio reached over and grabbed Prompto’s hand. He felt a small wave of sadness hit him, as he realized that this time last week he had been in this same scenario with Ignis. This long distance was going to kill him. “He told me you guys like to play video games, order pizza, and hang out.” 

“It sounds simple, but it’s been a tradition of ours since high school.” Prompto looked over at him. “Even if we can’t hang out much during the week, we always keep Fridays open so we can hang out together.” 

“I think that’s great.” Gladio looked at the both of them. “It’s hard to find someone you can spend time with like that that isn’t a significant other.” 

“Up until last week, we were both single.” Noctis shrugged his shoulders. “Now, I don’t know about you guys, but I’m starving.” Grabbing one of the menus, he opened it to take a look at what sort of food this restaurant served. “How about we split some wings to start?” 

“That sounds amazing.” He saw Prompto rub his stomach. “I didn’t realize how hungry I was until we got here.” 

“This place has some good food. I hope you guys like it. My treat.” 

Noctis wanted to say no, but he was low on funds so that was a nice reprieve. Glancing down, he already saw a chicken and egg dish that sounded amazing. _Maybe I’ll try and remember how it’s made, and then I’ll tell Ignis and maybe he could try and make it for me_. “Thanks, Gladio. I won’t go crazy with my order.” 

“It’s the least I can do, for the guy that’s stolen my heart’s best friend.” 

Again, that wave of sadness hit him hard, as he thought about Ignis and how nice it would have been if he could be here too. But he couldn’t think about that right now, as he didn’t want to be a downer for the meal. He returned his attention to both Prompto and Gladio, and put thoughts of Ignis to the back of his mind. 

True to his word, Gladio paid for the meal and as they left the restaurant together, Noctis knew that he was going to be going back to his apartment by himself. He turned and looked at the two new lovers, and was genuinely happy for both of them. “Listen, I think I’m going to call it a night.” He said, as they stood together on the sidewalk. 

“You sure? I figured we could go grab dessert at that ice cream parlor down the block.” Gladio nodded his head towards where the parlor was located. “You both are still on vacation, right?” 

“We are.” Prompto nodded his head. “You sure, Noct? I can pay for ice cream.” 

“No, it’s okay. I’m a little tired. Gladio, it was so nice to meet you.” He held his hand out. “Thanks for dinner.” 

“It was my pleasure.” The strong handshake didn’t throw him off balance this time around. “Did Prom drive you?”

“No, I drove us. You can take him home?” 

Gladio nodded his head. “I sure can. You want to get some ice cream, babe?” 

“Yes, please!” Prompto came up to Noctis, and gave him a hug. “Text me later, okay? I hope you like him, because I really do.” He spoke quietly so that only Noctis could hear. 

“He’s great. I’m really happy for you.” He hugged him back, then stepped backwards. “See you guys tomorrow. Just text me before you come over. Any time after five is fine.” 

“I work until six, so it’ll probably be around eight.” Gladio said, as they all stepped towards the street to allow a group of people to walk by. “That’s not too late, is it?” 

“Not at all.” Noctis shook his head. “I’ll see you both tomorrow around eight?” 

“Sounds good!” Prompto waved, then grabbed onto Gladio’s arm. Noctis watched them walk away together, then walked down the street and headed back to his car alone. 

Back at his apartment, he put his phone on its charger, and then grabbed his laptop. He was going to watch a few episodes of ‘A New Recipe’, hoping that it will take away some of the lingering sadness. It was stupid - he knew it was dumb to feel this way, but he couldn’t help it. As happy as he was for Prompto finding someone, he envied him for finding someone that lived in the same city as the two of them. _Two more months. I can make it. Then I’ll get to see Ignis, and spend as much time with him as I would like_. He kept reminding himself of that, as he watched his lover’s show. 

“You can follow me on Pictogram - I like to post videos there from time to time on what I’m working on. I’m also on Warkker. Links all down below. Ta for now, darlings!” He had arrived at the end of the episode, and then heard his lover speak again. “Hello, darlings!” There was some comfort being able to watch him like this, as it was like having him here with him. Getting settled on the couch, he let the videos play as he stretched out, and soon was drifting off to sleep to the sounds of his lover giving instructions on how to make an orange chiffon cake. 

***

His phone rang near his head, startling him out of his sleep the next morning. Groaning, he reached for his phone as he realized he’d fallen asleep on the couch. “Hello?” He answered, his voice still thick with sleep. 

“Did I wake you up, my sweet Prince?” Ignis’ voice made him a lot more alert. “I was calling because I’m about to get on a plane, and thought I would say a quick hello before I go on my trip.” 

“I’m so glad you called.” He sat up, and held the phone against his ear with his shoulder. “I didn’t think you would.” 

“I made sure I had enough time before my flight takes off.” His lover’s voice brought a few butterflies to life in his stomach. “I’ll do my best to contact you when I land, but I’m not sure what it’s going to be like.” 

“I understand.” Noctis could feel his heartbeat start to quicken. “I’m just happy to hear your voice right now.” _I miss you_. 

“I’m happy to hear yours too. Try not to miss me too much over the next week. You know what I’m posting tomorrow.” Ignis reminded him. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t comment.” 

He laughed. “I will, don’t worry.” 

“I have to go now.” 

It never felt like enough time, but he knew he couldn’t complain. This phone call was a huge surprise already. “Have a safe trip. I love you, Ignis.” 

“And I love you, Noctis. Take care.” The call ended. 

Setting his phone back on its charger, he got up from the couch and wandered into his bedroom. It was going to be a very long week for him, and with his friend and his friend’s lover coming over tonight, he knew he was going to need to be as rested as possible. Looking at the clock, he saw that it was almost eleven. Wanting to have the best possible Friday he could have, he stripped out of his clothes and got into bed, where he promptly fell back asleep. 

***

“No fair! You stole that!” Prompto shook his shoulder, as Noctis began to laugh. 

“You dropped it! What did you expect me to do? Go easy on you because you want to make a good impression on your boyfriend? No way.” He held onto his controller as he scored another point for himself. “What you should be doing is paying more attention to the game, and less attention to Gladio.” 

“Why would you help him?” Gladio asked, laughter present in his voice. 

He glanced over at his best friend, who was currently sitting on Gladio’s lap, the two of them playing the game, while Gladio observed. They had arrived at his apartment a little after eight, and Gladio had brought over a case of beer that there was no way they would finish tonight. It was a kind gesture, and one that Noctis took to heart as it seemed that this guy was really nice, and definitely a step up from the guys that Prompto usually dated. 

“Should we order food?” Noctis paused the game, and pulled his phone out of his pocket. “My guess is it won’t be here for at least an hour, maybe more.” 

“Then we’d better order now.” Prompto nodded his head. “You want to do ramen?” 

“Yeah. Gladio, is that okay with you?” 

“Sure is.” 

They ordered their food online, and just as Noctis had predicted, the app told him it would be up to eighty minutes for their food to arrive. Dropping his controller, he got up and went to the kitchen. “Anyone want another beer while we wait?” 

“Or two?” Gladio laughed at Prompto’s comment. 

“I can only carry so many.” Noctis opened the door to his fridge, and grabbed three beers. 

“One it is, then.” 

He handed his controller to Gladio, who took it after casually putting Prompto on the couch next to him. “You think I can beat you, Prom?” 

“Whoever loses, I play the winner.” Noctis took a sip of his beer, and grinned as he watched the two begin to fight one another on the screen. 

They traded back and forth between the three of them; whenever someone would lose, the other person would step in to play the winner. At a quarter to ten, there was a knock on the door. Noctis was busy fighting Gladio, and somehow holding his own. 

“Prompto, could you get our food?” He asked, as he dodged an attack of Gladio’s. 

“Sure. You guys want me to bring another beer too?” 

“Yes, please.” Both Noctis and Gladio said at the same time, then went back to playing the game. 

Noctis was about to take the match when he heard Prompto exclaim, “Holy shit! Noct! Noctis! NOCTIS, COME OVER HERE RIGHT NOW.” 

“Geez, Prompto.” He looked at Gladio, who shrugged his shoulders. Putting the game on pause, he looked down at the floor as he walked over to his front door. “Why are you yelling? I already paid for….the……” 

His speech stopped as he looked up, and saw why Prompto had freaked out. Standing at his door was the one person he had not expected to see. Not this soon. “Hello, Noctis.” Ignis’ voice came out of the person that looked like exactly like Ignis. “Surprise.” 

“Ignis?” His heart stopped, as he heard Gladio’s voice behind him. “Ignis, what the fuck are you doing here?” 

“Gladio??” Noctis stared at his lover, who looked equally as shocked as he felt right now. “What on Eos are _you_ doing here?” 

“That’s my boyfriend.” Gladio pointed at Prompto, who was standing by the door with a look of shock on his face. “The one I told you about?” 

“Wait, you guys know each other?” Prompto asked. 

“Ignis has been my best friend since we were kids.” Gladio said. “He was here for my sister’s wedding a few weeks ago.” 

“That was you?!” 

Noctis was staring up at Ignis, not aware of the conversations that were happening around him. He walked over to him, neither one of them looking away from each other. He reached up, and touched Ignis’ shoulder, trying to verify that this wasn’t a figment of his imagination, but it was real. A warm hand touched his face, and on instinct he closed his eyes and turned his head to rest it against the palm of his hand. 

“Hello, my Prince.” 

The smile on Ignis’ face brought tears to his eyes. “I thought you were traveling for business.” 

“I am.” The thumb on his cheek began to caress it softly. “I’m here for the week to do business over at the Moogletube headquarters.” 

“Uh, hello?” An unknown voice spoke. “I’ve got some food here for a Mr. Caelum?” 

“I’ve got that!” Prompto said, as he went over to the front door. 

“I can’t believe you’re here.” Finally snapping out of it, he launched himself at Ignis, clinging to him as tight as he had when they last saw each other. “Gods, you’re really here right now.” He whispered, hugging him tight, happy tears beginning to stream down his face. 

“I am.” Ignis returned the same amount of strength for their embrace. “It’s so good to have you in my arms again, Noct.” 

They stood in the middle of his foyer, hugging each other as if both their lives depended on it. Reluctantly pulling away, Noctis dropped down to his feet, not realizing he’d lifted himself up to be closer to Ignis’ body. Turning his head, he found Ignis’ lips and began to kiss him with an urgency that would normally be reserved for the bedroom, but after a week of being apart and to have Ignis here in his apartment, he operated on instinct only. 

Someone cleared their throat loud, which brought a quick end to their kiss, as Noctis dropped back down to his feet. “Right.” He looked up, watching Ignis adjust the position of his glasses. “Apologies, I had forgotten that we weren’t alone.” 

“We can leave, if you want us to!” Prompto stood next to Gladio, the two of them in the kitchen with their food. “I’m sorry if I was rude opening the door for you. But I’m pretty sure that Noct would have told me if you were coming to visit.” 

Noctis looked around his apartment. “If I had known he was coming, I would have cleaned. Forget telling you.” 

“I wanted it to be a surprise.” Noctis smiled, as he felt Ignis’ arm wrap around his waist. “It was a good surprise, wasn’t it?” 

“It was.” He nodded, then looked over at Gladio. “You knew he was coming here?” 

“I didn’t know it was you that was dating him! You’re the reason why I won’t be living alone soon.” Gladio shook his head back and forth. “Of all the people.” 

That caused him to turn back towards Ignis. “Wait. Are you really thinking about moving out here? I thought you said it was going to be in a few months.” 

“It might have ramped up a bit because of a certain someone.” 

“I told you he liked you, Noct!” His best friend commented from across the room. 

Ignis’ hand returned to his face. “Would it make you upset if I moved out here sooner, rather than later?” 

“Are you crazy?” Noctis stared up at him, unable to tear his eyes away from the beautiful green eyes that seemed to mirror his feelings. “Sure, I was hoping to graduate college without the added distraction of a boyfriend, but whether or not you’re living here or in Tenebrae, I think that would have still been a problem.” 

A warm laugh left his lover’s mouth, which brought a smile to his face. “Well, I will still be busy traveling for ANR. So, you won’t have to worry about that too much.” 

“Seriously, do guys want us to go?” Prompto came over to where they were standing. “I haven’t had that much to drink, so I can drive Gladio and I back to my place.” 

He knew his best friend was trying to compensate for this wonderful surprise. “You wouldn’t mind?” 

“Not at all.” Gladio went back into the kitchen, and grabbed their food. “We’ll hang out again soon. Ignis - you’d better call me later.” 

The two came together, and shared a hearty embrace. “Yes, that sounds like a good idea.” Noctis watched as Ignis held his hand out to Prompto. “I’m sorry that this was a terrible first meeting. Noctis has told me a lot about you. But apparently, not enough that I would know you’re the one that’s taking good care of my best friend.” 

“I could say the same to you!” Prompto pushed the hand away, and put his arms around Ignis’ back. “We watch your channel _all_ the time. I can’t wait to see some of the videos you shot together. I’m sure your editing is a lot better than mine.” 

Taking a step closer, he tucked himself under Ignis’ arm so that he was next to him. “Your editing is great, Prompto. Don’t sell yourself short.” He smiled at his best friend. “Sorry this night got cut short.” 

“I’m not. I’m really happy for you.” Prompto gave him a quick hug, then walked over to where Gladio was waiting for him. “We’ll see you guys sometime this weekend? Maybe? If you can come up for air?” 

His cheeks burned as he felt Ignis’ arm trap him against his side. “I’m sure we’ll have some time to make that happen. Gladio - we’ll talk later.” 

“Good night, you crazy kids.” Gladio slung his arm over Prompto’s shoulder, then the two of them left Noctis’ apartment, leaving him alone with Ignis. 

It took all of a second for them to both realize it, and as soon as they did, they were turning towards one another. Noctis threw his arms around Ignis’ neck, as his face was kissed all over. “I’m still trying to believe you’re here right now.” He moaned softly, as Ignis’ lips began to touch the side of his neck. “Because this - this is such an incredible surprise.” 

“It was difficult keeping it from you.” Ignis brushed his lips against his. “I’m not sure what my time is going to be like while I’m here, but when I’m not at Moogletube and you’re not in class, you had better believe that we’ll be together.” 

He leaned forward to capture Ignis’ lips with another searing kiss, both of them gasping for breath afterwards. “Are you staying with Gladio while you’re here?” Noctis asked, as his hands slid up and down the length of Ignis’ body. 

“No, I’m staying at a boutique motel near the Moogletube campus. They’re paying for me to stay there for the week.” 

“One week is hardly enough time.” Noctis put his hands on the back of Ignis’ neck, and pulled him down for another kiss. “One week was barely enough when I was in Tenebrae.” 

“Shh…” Ignis kissed him again, swiping his tongue against his lips. He parted them, groaning softly as their tongues touched again, the kiss becoming more arousing as they kissed. “It’s for a week now, but it’ll be permanent soon.” 

“How soon?”    


“I’ve got an interview for a consulting position out here this week, so depending on how that goes, by the end of next month?” 

Laughing, Noctis couldn’t help but feel giddy at the idea that Ignis might be moving here that fast. “Moogletube, a new job? It’s happening so fast!” He still couldn’t believe this was real. “Is it really because of me?” 

“I’m not sure how you could think it’s not.” Ignis held onto his face with both hands, as they stared at one another. “You’re my other half. I can’t bear to be apart from you.” Their foreheads came together. “I love you.” 

Closing his eyes, he felt tears begin to roll down his cheeks. “Do you mean that? You think I’m your other half?” 

“Was this past week absolute misery for you?” 

“Yes.” 

“Was it because you knew that the person you love, more than anything in this world, was thousands of miles away from you?” 

More tears fell. “Yes. Gods, yes.” 

“What did you feel when you saw me standing at the door?” 

“Shock, and then happiness.” He returned his forehead to Ignis’, as he took a deep breath. “A happiness I’ve never felt in my life before tonight.” 

Ignis pulled his head back, and they stared into each other’s souls. “You were meant for me, my sweet Prince. I knew that the moment we met at the night market.” 

“I love you so much, Ignis. I don’t want you to ever leave.” Noctis whispered. 

“Then I won’t. Do you know why?” 

“Because there’s more to do here in Insomnia than there is in Tenebrae for ANR?” 

Thumbs caressed both of his cheeks, his eyes falling closed at the tender caress. “Try again.” 

“Because I love you?” 

“And?” 

“Because you love me.” 

“Yes.” 

Noctis stared up at him. “No one has ever done anything like this for me. What if it’s a mistake? What if you’re miserable? What if you hate it here? What if we break up? Are we even going out? What if-” 

A kiss silenced him, and brought warmth to his body. It was almost like the physical manifestation of Ignis’ love, wrapped up in a nice kiss. “No what ifs, Noctis. I’m choosing to do this. I can’t stand to be separated from you.” 

“I feel the same way.” Bringing his head to rest against Ignis’ chest, he hugged him tight. “I love you, Ignis. Whatever happens, I guess we’ll deal with it together, huh?” 

“That sounds like an excellent plan to me, my sweet Prince.” 

After a long week apart, to have the person he’d missed more than he knew, it was total happiness. Would it work - time would only tell. For now, he knew that Ignis was right - it felt better to have him here than to be lonely and aching for him. Whatever the Gods had in store for them - be it a more lucrative career chance for ‘A New Recipe’, or for Noctis to get his channel up and going after he graduated - it remained to be seen. As Ignis would say, he had to have a little bit of patience. And for once, it was sound advice as it had brought the two of them together; two lost pieces that fit together perfectly. 


End file.
